Two strikingly similar satellite sea surface images released by NASA have caught the interest of weather watchers across the globe. While one image dates back to December 1997, the other one is from this year.
Back in 1997-98, one of the strongest El-Nino on record caused widespread chaos in terms of weather across the globe. It accounted for the wettest and warmest winter temperatures in close to 104 years. Floods, record rains, ice storms, and hurricanes earmark that year’s El-Nino.
El-Nino 2015 is heading towards a similar fate. The observations from the two El-Nino images released by NASA also suggest that this year’s El-Nino may not have peaked yet.
Simply speaking, this year’s El-Nino is a bit delayed. A similar observation caused panic among weather scientists last year with news of rising sea temperatures doing the rounds. But the mega event never really materialized.
This year, however, scientists believe that the prospect of witnessing the strongest El-Nino on record are pretty good. In areas where record rains don’t penetrate due to El-Nino, droughts can be expected. But then again, a few experts opine that the phenomenon does not essentially translate into global doom.
As of now, the sight of similar protruding arms of the two El-Nino events appear to be scarier than usual. Earth may be in for a wild 2016 if this year’s El-Nino does turn out to be the strongest on record.
(Featured Image Credit: NASA)
