Australia could expect more multi-year El Nino and La Nina occassions because of human-triggered transformations to the climate patterns above the Pacific Ocean, a study done on this topic has revealed. The study, printed and launched by Australian National University (ANU) and the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes on Thursday, revealed that transformations in the Pacific Walker Circulation (PWC) – a pattern of winds and updrafts over the Pacific Ocean – have a drastic affect on El Nino and La Nina, and how they react in the approaching time.
Handled and brought by Dr Georgy Falster from the ANU Research School of Earth Sciences, researchers found that the length of time it requires for the circulation – a drastic, prominent affect on global climate – to switch between El Nino and La Nina phases has not been as fast as it was before. The power of the PWC is an essential warning bell of whether a La Nina or El Nino period has started.
During El Nino, the warmer surface waters endangers the PWC, and deteriorate or also reverse the trade winds that blow from the direction of east to west and create the bottom of the circulation. When the circulation is not strong enough, warmer temperatures and raised peril of bushfires in Australia linked with El Nino can be anticipated. When the PWC is powerful, cooler temperatures and extreme downpour particularly linked with La Nina can be anticipated.