For Red States Who Deny Climate Change, The Worst Is Yet To Come
It's not normal, even for the Spring, but this winter season's record flooding in Missouri is only the beginning. Not only have the conditions created by warming oceans and rising sea levels made weather more dangerous in 2015, this is also an El Niño year.
El Niño is a weather phenomenon that occurs irregularly in the eastern tropical Pacific every two to seven years. When the trade winds that usually blow from east to west weaken, sea surface temperatures start rising, setting off a chain of atmospheric impacts.
El Niños also transfer heat stored in the deeper layers of the ocean to the surface. When combined with global warming, that can lead to record hot years, as in 1998.
"El Niño" got its name in the 1800s from Peruvian fisherman, who first noticed a mysterious warm current that would appear around Christmas. They called it the "little boy" or "Christ child."
The impacts of El Niño are felt worldwide, especially in the poorest countries.
As the weather goes wild across the globe, the aid agency Oxfam has warned that this El Niño could leave tens of millions of people exposed to disease and hunger.