Zee Media Bureau
Washington: A new study suggests that 2014 might be the hottest year surpassing the previous record of 1998 due to El Nino event.
According to the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, there is at least a 76 percent chance that an El Nino event will occur in 2014.
An El Nino can be defined as process in which the surface of the Pacific rises up, which may lead to warmer temperatures across the world. For nine months or more it brings rain and flooding to areas around Peru and Ecuador, and drought and fires to Indonesia and Australia. It is part of a cycle called the El Nino-Southern Oscillation.
It is extremely hard to predict as to whether there will be an El Nino in a given year or not. Previously, scientists could predict the onset and severity of El Nino events by about 6 months ahead of time.
But now a model aimed specifically at predicting El Nino seems to be able to sift through the noise by examining a previously-unexplored feature of Pacific weather.
(With Agency inputs)
