8 days ago
- The current El Niño event is predicted to be extremely strong, with sea-surface temperature anomalies in the Niño 3.4 region potentially reaching around 4°C above baseline, which is historically unprecedented.
- Climate scientists and journalists are increasingly vocal about severe impacts, including intensified storms, heatwaves, floods, crop failures, and infrastructure collapse, likening it to a 'Godzilla'-level disaster.
- Statistical analysis shows current conditions are a 1-in-7000 event without human-caused warming, and anomalies may exceed four standard deviations, indicating extreme rarity and severity.
- The El Niño is just beginning, with further warming expected, and it may lead to global surface temperatures reaching levels not seen in over 120,000 years, possibly exceeding 1.7°C above pre-industrial levels.
- Long-term projections suggest more frequent and intense El Niño and La Niña events this century, cycling into increasingly destructive patterns until a near-permanent El Niño state emerges after 2100.