Watch | What are El Niño and La Niña?
The Hindu
A video explainer on weather phenomena El Niño and La Niña.
India is experiencing a colder winter than normal. This is due to the north-south winter flow set up by the weather phenomenon known as La Niña.
The La Niña is going on for a record-breaking third consecutive year. Now, forecasts for the 2023 fall and winter are predicting that its companion phenomenon, known as the El Niño, will occur with more than a 50% probability.
What do El Niño and La Niña refer to?
El Niño refers to a band of warmer water spreading from west to east in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. Similarly, a La Niña occurs when the band of water spreads east to west and is cooler.
Both phenomena affect the weather worldwide and can have drastic effects on economies that depend on rainfall. Together, El Niño and La Niña make up a cyclical process called the El Niño Southern Oscillation.
An El Niño year creates a global-warming crisis in miniature. This is because the warm water spreading across the tropical Pacific releases a large amount of heat into the atmosphere.
An El Niño this year could increase the planet’s average surface temperature by more than 1.5° C from pre-industrial levels.