New Delhi: Warm water sloshing from the western Pacific towards the Americas has strengthened El Niño in the past several months.
Now, the conditions in the Pacific ocean are as intense as they were in the summer of 1997 when the monster El Niño was brewing, as claimed by scientists.
Researchers have warned that El Niño could lead to torrential and hazardous downpours.
El Niño can trigger heavy rains, floods in South America and scorching weather in Asia and east Africa. It can also have a devastating consequences for agriculture. Since March, at least three sizable west wind burst have already occured in the Pacific, as per observation compiled by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Usually El Niño peaks between December and April, so time will tell if it will be potent or not.
El Niño is the warm phase of the El Niño Southern Oscillation caused by a shift in the distribution of warm water in the Pacific Ocean around the equator.
