By: Onnie Stone
Experts have predicted that an El Niño will set in later this year, but what is making this happen and why should we care?
El Niño refers to the abnormal climate patterns that bring record high temperatures and abnormal, dangerous natural disasters. If an El Niño is bad enough, it can bring floods, famine, wildfires, droughts, and other damaging disasters. All of this is in addition to what we are experiencing as a result of the rising global temperature spurred on by climate change.
To spare you all the sciencey jargon, think of El Niño as a diversion from normal climate patterns. Trade winds in the Pacific travel around the globe moving warm water from South America to Asia. This movement generates a healthy environment for marine life and humans alike.
An El Niño is like a wrench being thrown into the cogs of a well-oiled machine. Trade winds weaken causing warm water to idle instead of traveling toward Asia. This triggers a domino-effect that leads to warm zones.
At best, these warm zones lead to moderate irregular weather. At worst, they lead to the kind of catastrophic natural disasters that make history.
So, how does this affect us?
Here in Michigan, we will be experiencing warmer, drier weather. Luckily, we generally do not have to deal with the more extreme weather conditions attributed to El Niño. Even so, Michigan has been recording record-high temperatures this year without El Niño.
As El Niño approaches, prepare for these abnormal weather conditions to worsen. High-risk individuals with auto-immune diseases should be especially cautious as these weather conditions are linked with the spread of viruses and disease.
It is important that we are aware of how different places around the world are affected by changing climate patterns. While we might only deal with a warmer-than-usual season, people around the world will potentially face deadly weather conditions that can domino into catastrophic events. Let this approaching El Niño serve as a reminder of the Earth’s rising temperature and the influence we have on our environment
