Expect this fall and winter to be warmer than usual, Pitt environmental science professors advise.
A recurring climate pattern that affects sea surface temperatures, called El Niño, is set to cause higher-than-average temperatures soon. Pitt environmental science professors warn of a strong El Niño this year, in line with a broader pattern of the climate event causing increasingly warm temperatures. While its impact on Pittsburgh is yet to be determined, experts anticipate an atypically warm and dry winter for the region.
Occurring every two to seven years, El Niño occurs when trade winds slow, preventing the Pacific Ocean from its typical cycle of blowing warm water from the Eastern Pacific to the Western Pacific. Because the wind doesn’t push as hard across the ocean during the El Niño phase, warm water accumulates in the eastern Pacific instead of where it usually accumulates on the Western side. This causes sea surface temperatures to rise above normal…