Terrible Team: Super El Niño and Climate Change Could Lead to Record-Breaking Global Temperatures

Key points

• You’ve probably seen in the news the potential for a super El Niño to develop this summer into early fall.
• According to NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, there is at least a 50% chance of a “strong” or “very strong” El Niño during the upcoming Northern Hemisphere Winter.
• Some climate models, such as those at the Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), are even saying this event could be the strongest El Niño on record.
• But what exactly is El Niño, and what makes this event super?
• And what happens when El Niño interacts with fossil fuel-caused climate change—the long-term increase in global temperatures that is already turbocharging extreme weather events around the world?