Toby Ault, professor in Cornell’s department of earth and atmospheric sciences says this year’s El Niño combined with trapped heat in the Pacific Ocean from climate change, could be a recipe for destruction in parts of the drought-afflicted regions of the Caribbean and California.

Por favor dale nota que Toby Ault está disponible para ser entrevistado en español.

Ault says: “Scientists have been saying this could be a ‘Godzilla El Niño’ year, which is a nice metaphor because it implies that something dark and destructive could emerge from the oceans and wreak havoc on land. Moreover, a lot of the heat from climate change is thought to trapped in the Pacific Ocean, meaning that it could be released with this event as often happens during El Niño years.

“California could see mudslides and floods, but it is unlikely that even Godzilla can get the state completely out of the current drought.

“My lab’s biggest concern for drought afflicted regions is the Caribbean, which is already experiencing severe stresses this summer and could see the worst conditions in memory if this Godzilla El Niño unfolds anything like the 1997 event. “These events afford us opportunities, in a sense, to learn and plan for the kinds of hazards we expect to see during climate change, even if we can't directly attribute them to human causes.”

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