Kimberley Hagemans MSc, PhD candidate Palaeoecology
El Niño
It was a hot topic in the news this summer: the current El Niño (2015 – 2016) could be one of the strongest El Niño events ever measured and could break all records. According to the NOAA (2015) the current El Niño is a strong one and will last throughout the 2015-2016 winter. Past experiences do not provide good prospects for this year’s El Niño, if we are to believe the news sites. The El Niño event of 1997 – 1998 caused catastrophic floods in Peru and Ecuador, while inland South America, Indonesia and Australia were faced with severe droughts and wildfires (Cane, 2005), with ~$ 25 billion costs for the U.S. economy alone. But what is El Niño? What happens during an El Niño event and what can science tell us about this phenomenon?
El Niño
It was a hot topic in the news this summer: the current El Niño (2015 – 2016) could be one of the strongest El Niño events ever measured and could break all records. According to the NOAA (2015) the current El Niño is a strong one and will last throughout the 2015-2016 winter. Past experiences do not provide good prospects for this year’s El Niño, if we are to believe the news sites. The El Niño event of 1997 – 1998 caused catastrophic floods in Peru and Ecuador, while inland South America, Indonesia and Australia were faced with severe droughts and wildfires (Cane, 2005), with ~$ 25 billion costs for the U.S. economy alone. But what is El Niño? What happens during an El Niño event and what can science tell us about this phenomenon?