El Nino has arrived in the Pacific Ocean & its effects could be 'substantial' but what does it mean
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El Nino has arrived in the Pacific Ocean and its effects could be 'substantial' – but what does it mean for the rest of the world?
Tuesday May 12, 2015
The extreme weather system known as El Nino has begun, scientists say, and is forecast to be a “substantial” and lasting phenomenon with severe implications for either side of the Pacific Ocean.
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology, which monitors weather patterns across the tropical Pacific, upgraded its monitoring status to El Nino level for the first time in five years, and warned it is “likely to persist in the coming months”.
El Nino was expected amid record temperatures around the world last summer, but never fully materialised. Now, its arrival has been confirmed by the Japanese Meteorological Agency and US scientists at the NOAA, who predicted seemingly erroneously that it would be a “weak” event in early March.
David Jones, climate monitoring and prediction chief at the Australian bureau, told reporters on Tuesday that this year’s effect will be “a proper El Nino, not a weak one”.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/el-nino-has-arrived-in-the-pacific-ocean-and-its-effects-could-be-substantial--but-what-does-it-mean-for-the-rest-of-the-world-10244852.html
