El Ninos More Frequent, Bringing Extreme Weather
An ancient coral reef in Papua New Guinea reveals that El Ninos and La Ninas, the pulses of warm and cold water in thePacific that cause extreme weather patterns such as droughts, floods and storms, have never been stronger than they are today.
So far, scientists have been unable to predict future El Ninos, meaning that they cannot prepare for weather emergencies. El Nino, the giant patch of unusually warm water, can disrupt fishing, produce rough weather on the West Coast of the U.S., and cause droughts in places like Indonesia. La Nina, which produces cold water, causes the terrible winter storms that batter the Northwest and the hot, dry summers of the Southwest.
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