What La Niña Will do to Earth in 2025

Summary

This video explores the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), a climate pattern affecting global weather. It discusses the recent strong El Niño event and anticipates the upcoming La Niña, explaining their impacts on weather patterns. The script also touches on how climate change may influence future ENSO cycles, emphasizing the need for adaptation and preparation.

Takeaways

• 🌍 Earth's weather and climate are influenced by a variety of factors including its position in the solar system, rotation, atmospheric patterns, and seasonal changes.
• 🌊 El Niño and La Niña are opposite ends of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle, which can significantly impact global weather patterns and have historical implications for civilizations.
• 🔍 The end of a strong El Niño event in June 2024 was marked by record-high ocean temperatures, coral bleaching, Amazon rainforest drought, and extreme rainfall in North America.
• ⏱️ ENSO cycles typically take 2 to 7 years to transition from one extreme to the other, with episodes lasting 9 to 12 months, though they can extend for several years.
• 🌡️ ENSO-Neutral periods are characterized by average sea surface temperatures and trade winds, leading to expected weather patterns worldwide.
• 🌀 The Hadley Cell rotation, driven by the Sun, is a global air circulation that, when altered, can relate to El Niño and La Niña events through changes in trade winds.
• 🌟 The Southern Oscillation, documented by Sir Gilbert Thomas Walker, is a shift in air pressure across the equatorial Pacific Ocean, which is part of the larger Walker Circulation.
• 🌊 El Niño is characterized by higher than average Pacific sea surface temperatures and can lead to ecosystem disruptions, such as coral bleaching and changes in fish populations.
• 🌈 La Niña, the cooler phase of ENSO, is marked by stronger trade winds and cooler sea surface temperatures, often intensifying neutral conditions in most areas with some regional exceptions.
• ❓ The impact of climate change on the ENSO cycle is uncertain, but it's likely to amplify the severity of weather events, as recent history shows stronger and more frequent El Niño and La Niña events.

Q & A

What is the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO)?

The El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a climate pattern that involves the periodic warming and cooling of the central to eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. It is a complex system that includes changes in sea surface temperature, atmospheric pressure, and wind patterns, which can have significant impacts on global weather and climate.

How do El Niño and La Niña events affect global weather patterns?

El Niño and La Niña events can alter worldwide atmospheric patterns, leading to extreme weather conditions. El Niño typically causes droughts in some regions and heavy rainfall in others, while La Niña often intensifies the normal weather patterns, such as colder and wetter winters in certain areas.

What is the difference between El Niño and La Niña events?

El Niño is characterized by warmer than average sea surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific, leading to a variety of weather disruptions globally. La Niña, on the other hand, is marked by cooler than average sea surface temperatures in the same region, which can intensify typical weather patterns in various parts of the world.

How do the trade winds play a role in the development of El Niño and La Niña?

The trade winds, which blow from east to west across the Pacific, play a crucial role in the development of El Niño and La Niña. During El Niño, these winds weaken, allowing warm water to accumulate in the eastern Pacific. In contrast, during La Niña, the trade winds are stronger, pushing warm water westward and allowing cooler water to rise to the surface in the east.

What is the impact of El Niño and La Niña on coral reefs?

El Niño events can lead to increased sea surface temperatures, causing coral bleaching where corals expel the symbiotic algae they rely on, leaving them vulnerable. La Niña's cooler waters can disrupt the balance necessary for coral health, potentially leading to other stressors that affect their survival.

How do El Niño and La Niña affect the Amazon rainforest?

El Niño events can lead to drought in the Amazon rainforest due to the shift in atmospheric circulation, which reduces rainfall. La Niña, while typically associated with wetter conditions, can also influence the rainforest's climate, although the effects are less predictable and can vary from year to year.

What was the significance of the El Niño event that ended in June 2024?

The El Niño event that ended in June 2024 was one of the five strongest on record. It caused record-high ocean surface temperatures, heat stress on coral reefs, drought in the Amazon rainforest, and extreme rainfall with dangerous consequences for North America.

How does the ENSO cycle influence the occurrence of hurricanes?

During El Niño, the development of hurricanes in the Atlantic is typically reduced due to increased wind shear. Conversely, La Niña conditions often lead to a more active hurricane season in the Atlantic, with the potential for more and stronger hurricanes.

What is the potential impact of La Niña on global agriculture?

La Niña can influence global agriculture by altering rainfall patterns. For instance, it can lead to increased rainfall in Australia and east Asia, which might benefit agriculture in those regions, while other areas, like parts of Africa, might experience drought, negatively affecting crop yields.

How does climate change potentially affect the ENSO cycle?

While the exact impacts of climate change on the ENSO cycle are not fully understood, it is believed that global warming could lead to more intense and frequent El Niño and La Niña events. This could result in more extreme weather patterns and greater variability in global climate.