ROCKET FUEL FOR STORMS: THE SCIENCE BEHIND EL NINO

Hurricane Polo weakened to a strong Category 4 off Mexico’s Pacific coast after undergoing extreme rapid intensification and hitting rare Category 5 status on Tuesday. Its rapid growth was due in part to El Niño, a natural climate pattern which is contributing to already-warmer-than-normal ocean waters. The phenomenon triggers shifts in the atmosphere and can affect weather patterns around the globe. A new analysis from the Climate Impact Lab at the University of Chicago projects nearly half a million heat deaths by February due to El Niño-driven extreme heat. “With all these events, you can’t pinpoint exactly when and where something like this is going to happen,” says Peter Huybers, the Chair of Harvard’s Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences. “But the odds that we’re going to see unusual weather, including delusions in some places and droughts in others, is heightened because of the El Nino conditions.” Correspondent Marybel Gonzalez breaks down the science and what people need to know as they prepare for potential impacts in a 3pET PKG with FREE custom talkbacks from Los Angeles.