Scientists Warn of El Nino's Extreme Destructive Power, Rivaling Historic Disasters
Quick Look
- Scientists warn that the current El Nino event, though a "prelude," already exhibits extreme destructive power, potentially rivalling the 1997-98 super El Nino.
- The National Marine Environmental Forecasting Centre's chief forecaster, Jiang Hua, highlights unusually warm water anomalies in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, signaling a perilous future.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Scientists are warning that the current El Nino event, despite being a "prelude," is already demonstrating extreme destructive power and could rival the historically significant 1997-98 super El Nino. This assessment comes from Jiang Hua, chief El Nino forecaster at the National Marine Environmental Forecasting Centre.
Scientists warn that we are only seeing the prelude, and with the current event already rivalling historic climate disasters, it signals a potentially perilous future for the nation and the globe.
Jiang Hua, chief El Nino forecaster at the National Marine Environmental Forecasting Centre, warned that although the most severe impacts of such an event often occurred in the following year, this year’s “prelude” had already shown “extreme destructive power”.
“The entire tropical Pacific is like a pot of boiling soup,” Jiang said in an interview with the Global Times on July 22. “In terms of intensity, this year’s El Nino could already rival the historically recognised super El Nino of 1997-98.”
In March, Jiang and her team detected large amounts of unusually warm water beneath the surface in the tropical regions of the northern and southern Pacific and in the Indian Ocean.
These warm-water anomalies could converge towards the central and eastern equatorial Pacific, accelerating the development of the event.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
The most severe impacts of the El Nino event will occur in the following year.
Likely · Within months
Open Questions
- What specific severe impacts will occur in the following year?
- How will the warm-water anomalies converge?
- What is the precise timeline for the event's full development?
