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This year’s La Niña is expected to be very strong, leading to cooler temperatures, strong above-average tropical storms and a danger of flooding. The Bureau of Meteorology writes that the phenomenon will last until the New Year, and probably until the summer of 2021. The last time the world was hit by a powerful La Niña was in the 2007-08 fall and winter season.
Meteorology Office climate researcher Greg Browning sees signs that this year’s La Niña will be very strong and will be like the birthplace of tropical storms.
“Based on what we now see in the Pacific, the development of the La Niña and its increasing strength, we can in all likelihood expect more stronger storms than we normally do,” Browning told ABC News.
The opposite of El Niño
La Niña is the opposite of the El Niño weather phenomenon, after which both create large temperature fluctuations in the surface waters of the Pacific Ocean. El Niño triggers higher temperatures, leading to increased rainfall in the northern hemisphere and drier conditions in the south. Ergo, areas like North America are at risk of flooding, and Australia is at risk of extreme droughts and wildfires.
La Niña, which is the phenomenon facing the world now, causes unusually cold temperatures. In the Pacific Ocean, temperatures can drop between 3 and 5 degrees Celsius. La Niña affects the climate in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and may cause more tropical hurricanes to occur across the Atlantic. For North America it will mean unusually strong storms, and for Australia it will cause heavy rains, flood hazard and storms.
North Europe
La Niña will also affect the climate in Europe, but northern Europe is the area that will least notice the weather phenomenon. This is because northern Europe already has such strong climatic variations that the La Niña effect will be so weak that it will hardly be felt, climate researcher Rasmus Benestad from the Meteorological Institute explains to NRK.
