We can thank global warming for twice the El Ninos

[unhappycamper]

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/climate-weather/stories/we-can-thank-global-warming-for-twice-the-el-ninos



On Feb. 8, 1983, a massive dust storm advanced on Melbourne, Australia. The dust storm was a consequence of devastating droughts induced by an extreme El Niño

We can thank global warming for twice the El Ninos
By Becky Oskin, LiveScience
Mon, Jan 20, 2014 at 9:38 AM

The most intense El Niño events may soon hit every 10 years, instead of every 20 years, thanks to warming water in the eastern Pacific Ocean, a new study predicts.

An El Niño is the warm phase of a long-standing natural climate cycle in the Pacific Ocean. When changing wind patterns start piling up warm water in the eastern part of the equatorial Pacific, the redistribution of hotter water triggers changes in atmospheric circulation that influences rainfall and storm patterns around the world — an El Niño.

During extreme El Niños, sea surface temperatures warmer than 82 degrees Fahrenheit (28 degrees Celsius) develop in the normally cold and dry eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean. Because this part of the Pacific is typically colder than the western Pacific, even 0.8 degrees Celsius (about 1 degree Fahrenheit) of warming in these waters has an outsize effect, said lead study author Wenju Cai.

"Under global warming, the barrier to convection shifts," Cai told LiveScience. "Therefore, it is easier to generate this massive atmospheric circulation associated with an extreme El Niño event." (Convection is the process that fuels storms.)