BBC and DW News on the 'Godzilla El Niño'

For today's "short evergreen educational entry," I'm revisiting PBS Terra and Vox explain the forecast 'super El Niño'. I begin with two videos from BBC News, starting with 'Strongest El Niño of the century' is coming. Should we be scared?

El Niño is a natural weather pattern that begins in the Pacific Ocean.

The event developing in 2026 could be the strongest in living memory, according to the Met Office.

But what does it mean, and what will it affect?

The answer to "should we be scared" is yes, at least a little. Calling it a "Godzilla" El Niño will just reinforce that feeling.

The above segment built upon El Niño set to be 'strongest in living memory', says Met Office.

The El Niño event that is developing over the Pacific Ocean is likely to be the strongest in living memory, the Met Office has warned.

The powerful natural climate phenomenon pushes up global temperatures and can increase the risks of extreme weather.

Added to the effects of human-induced climate change, the Met Office is warning that it is "very likely" to mean 2027 is the hottest year on record globally.

There is growing evidence that weather patterns around the world.

Hearing about all the effects El Niño is having on food supply and food prices reminds me of two of Commoner's Laws, "There is no free lunch" and "Everything is connected to everything else." I'll try to remember this when I teach Environmental Science one last time beginning next month.

Speaking of stories I tell my students, looking at the graph showing the effects of El Niño and La Niña on global temperature also reminds me of a question I ask in the worksheet for Chasing Ice, "How is increasing greenhouse gases like using performance-enhancing steroids?" They make extreme events more frequent and stronger. While climate change doesn't make El Niño more frequent, it is making the natural disasters it causes more frequent. Also, climate change is making El Niño at least appear stronger and El Niño is definitely increasing temperatures.

DW News features more expert commentary in A historic El Nino is forming. Here's why scientists are worried.

The UK's Met Office says this year's El Nino could unleash extreme weather, the likes of which the world has not seen in a century. The results could be record-breaking global temperatures in 2027 and a raft of natural disasters. DW's Sarah Kelly talks about the weather phenomenon with Liz Bentley, Chief Executive of the Royal Meteorological Society in the UK and President of the European Meteorological Society.

The graph shows that the Pacific sea surface temperatures are already 2^oC above normal and could reach between 3 and 4^oC higher than average by the end of the year. Will that be stronger than 1877? Maybe.

All of the above examined the weather globally with a focus on Europe. What about the United States? PBS Terra covers some of that in What El Niño Predicts for Snowfall This Winter.

With El Niño officially here, and predicted to get stronger, let's see how it's going to affect our snow forecast for this winter! Weathered host Maiya May breaks it down.

The pattern predicts less snow here in Michigan and more snow in the mountains of California and the arid Southwest. That's good news for both places, so not everything about El Niño is bad.

That's a wrap for today. Stay tuned for another brief evergreen educational entry tomorrow.