Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

tornado34jh

(1,527 posts)
17. El Nino
Thu Aug 10, 2023, 10:58 PM
Aug 2023

When El Nino is around, Hawaii and Australia tend to be quite dry, because it causes a change in the position of the high pressure in the Central Pacific. Conversely, it tends to bring wetter conditions in South America, especially in Peru, Bolivia, and Colombia. It causes changes in the currents, with the worst causing a reversal of the trade winds, so instead of going east to west like it normally does, it reverses and goes from west to east, and that pushes the warm water to South America. But Hawaii has lately been struggling to stay within normal rainfall over the last few years, even during the opposite phase, La Nina. It's not limited to Hawaii. Much of South America and parts of Europe are struggling to deal with that, the former of which is in their winter, but I read somewhere that parts of Chile, Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil are getting record high temperatures. Here in Florida, I read some of the ocean temperatures were in the upper 90s to near 100 in the Florida Keys. If a hurricane were to pass that area, it could rapidly intensify. In fact, while traditionally the hurricane season starts in June, lately it has been .starting earlier over the last 10 years. The last time a year did not have either an El Nino or a La Nina for at least part of the year was 2013 Yes, climate change is definitely happening, but the big question is, what is the world going to do about it? Obviously the answer would be to reduce dependence on oil, coal, and gas, but it's not that simple. Not every country has the infrastructure to build renewable sources or people that know how to do it, especially in places like Africa, Middle East, India, etc. So we probably will likely see this sort of thing happen more frequently. Another thing that likely will increase? Tropical diseases. With warmer temperatures, things that cause diseases (e.g. ticks, mosquitoes) will expand their range. I just don't see how we can reverse this because it takes anywhere between 300-1000 years for the atmosphere to remove the excess CO2. To put that into perspective, that would take the equivalent of between 1-4 orbits of Pluto (each taking 248 years) for it to decrease, and that's if we cut emission to zero suddenly. I think humanity is not prepared for what is about to happen.

Recommendations

0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

Horrible news Marthe48 Aug 2023 #1
Winds kicked up after dark LiberaBlueDem Aug 2023 #19
Such devastation. My heart goes out to these people. LoisB Aug 2023 #2
Oh my God. Horrendous MaryMagdaline Aug 2023 #3
Absolutely devastating. chowder66 Aug 2023 #4
OMG Retrograde Aug 2023 #5
Other disasters have been bad as well, but Hawaii's destruction has just killed me...... a kennedy Aug 2023 #6
What a horrible way to die malaise Aug 2023 #7
Those poor folks went through hell on earth. lpbk2713 Aug 2023 #8
No place is going to escape the damage from Climate Change BigmanPigman Aug 2023 #9
: onecaliberal Aug 2023 #10
Oh, How Heartbreakingly Awful DarthDem Aug 2023 #11
I have no words for such a loss wendyb-NC Aug 2023 #12
. MissB Aug 2023 #13
... bronxiteforever Aug 2023 #14
Heartbreaking. niyad Aug 2023 #15
... pazzyanne Aug 2023 #16
El Nino tornado34jh Aug 2023 #17
Great summary Savaspas Aug 2023 #22
We're feeling the effects here in Florida tornado34jh Aug 2023 #25
Mother Nature can be quite the cruel mistress. Initech Aug 2023 #24
Biden declared it a disaster today Hieronymus Phact Aug 2023 #18
... milestogo Aug 2023 #20
An unbearable loss dlk Aug 2023 #21
Holy fuck. Initech Aug 2023 #23
.. BlueWaveNeverEnd Aug 2023 #26
this is so sad and disturbing Behind the Aegis Aug 2023 #27
Latest Discussions»General Discussion»53 now confirmed dead in ...»Reply #17