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The 2015 El Niño event is now neck-and-neck with [the] record-setting event of 1997-1998 in terms of its mid-summer intensity.
Chart shows sea surface temperature difference from average (in degrees Celsius) in central and eastern Tropical Pacific in 2015 (orange line) compared to 1997 (blue line). By definition, El Nino becomes established when the sea surface temperature difference from average in this region is 0.5 Celsius for at least one month. It becomes a moderate El Nino event at 1 degree Celsius, strong at 1.5 degrees, and very strong or "super" at 2 degrees. In mid-July 2015, the sea surface temperature difference from normal was around 1.5 degrees, on the cusp of a strong El Nino event and comparable to the 1997 event at the same time, which eventually became a super El Nino. The red dots represent the average model forecast for the rest of 2015 which shows the sea surface temperature difference from average climbing above 2 degrees, achieving super El Nino strength, but it is not forecast to be quite as strong as the 1997-1998 event .
Good news: lots of rain on the way to drought-stricken California. Bad news: mudslides.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by curunir_wolf on Wednesday July 22 2015, @09:38PM
But then, California agribusiness grows almonds in the desert, then complains when there's no fucking water left, so I doubt there's much hope there.
They've been doing that for generations, until somebody pointed out the diminishing snail darter population. True to form, the EPA provided cover for the corporate farms and all the toxic run-off that was causing the problem, and instead decided it was the small farmers in San Joaquin using too much water, and if they could just divert all that fresh water back to the ocean it would cover up the issue. It didn't, and now there's a drought, and once-fertile farmland is now desert. Monsanto's customers are still buying all their crap, though, so I guess it's all good for Corporate America.
I am a crackpot