Monday November 18, 2024
University of Colorado, Boulder —
With the climate pattern known as El Niño in full force from mid-2023 to mid-2024, global temperatures broke records for 12 months in a row. As one of the strongest El Niño events on record, it was likely the main culprit of unprecedented heat, floods and droughts worldwide.
In a new study published Sep. 25 in the journal Nature, a CU Boulder climate scientist and collaborators reveal that the planet could see more frequent extreme El Niño events by 2050 if greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase.
“It’s pretty scary that 2050 is not very far away,” said Pedro DiNezio, the paper’s co-lead author and associate professor in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. “If these extreme events become more frequent, society may not have enough time to recover, rebuild and adapt before the next El Niño strikes. The consequences would be devastating.”