The planet is officially on alert for La Niña, a climate pattern that could cool the current stretch of record global heat. This phenomenon is also likely to trigger intense Atlantic hurricanes this fall.
There’s a 70 percent chance La Niña will develop between August and October, with nearly an 80 percent likelihood it will persist through winter, according to a forecast by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Regional Weather Extremes
The climate pattern linked to cool Pacific Ocean conditions would have widespread effects on weather extremes, opposite to what a strong El Niño pattern brought last winter. In the U.S., La Niña can cause drought in some regions and heavy snow in others, while globally, it may trigger drought in East Africa and floods in Indonesia.
However, there is some uncertainty about its impact due to a full year of record global temperatures and unprecedented ocean surface warmth.
Climate scientists are closely monitoring how La Niña’s global cooling influence will play out in the context of human-induced climate changes.
La Niña’s Global Effects
La Niña is known for fueling Atlantic tropical storm activity by reducing wind shear, creating conditions conducive to storm formation. The NOAA has revised its hurricane season forecast, now predicting around 25 named storms, including 12 hurricanes and six major hurricanes.
In the U.S., La Niña typically brings warm and dry conditions to the southern tier and wet, snowy conditions to the Pacific Northwest and northern Plains. Globally, it can cause floods in northern South America and Indonesia, and drought in East Africa, exacerbating the hunger crisis amid the civil war in Sudan.
Understanding La Niña
La Niña is a climate pattern where cool waters from the eastern Pacific well up to the surface, creating a pool of cooler-than-normal waters along the equator. Stronger tradewinds blow warm surface waters toward Asia, allowing colder waters to rise in the east.
This pattern shifts atmospheric forces, affecting weather conditions globally by altering normal flows of weather systems like heatwaves and storms.
La Niña vs. El Niño
El Niño is characterized by warmer temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific and weaker tradewinds. It often precedes La Niña, leading to a quick transition to cooler conditions.
Ongoing research aims to understand whether climate change is altering La Niña and El Niño behaviors. El Niño, which boosts planetary temperatures, recently contributed to the hottest conditions in over 100,000 years, closer to a critical warming threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels.
Potential Changes in La Niña
This episode of La Niña could be stronger due to unusual warmth in the western Pacific, intensifying its effects. Nathaniel Johnson, a NOAA scientist, suggests that the warm western Pacific could amplify La Niña’s impact.
Climate scientists will observe if La Niña can counteract recent global warming acceleration.
Duration of La Niña
La Niña typically lasts nine to 12 months but can sometimes extend up to three years. Long-term climate models suggest neutral conditions could set in next, but a two-year La Niña is possible.
Stronger preceding El Niño events tend to extend La Niña’s duration. After the strong El Niño of 2015-2016, weak La Niña conditions persisted for two years, while a weaker El Niño in 2018-2019 led to a rare “triple-dip” La Niña from 2020 to 2023.
Origin of the Name
The name La Niña, meaning “the girl” in Spanish, contrasts with El Niño, named after baby Jesus due to its occurrence around Christmas when Peruvian fishermen noticed unusually warm waters in the eastern Pacific.
Original Story at www.washingtonpost.com