For the Americans, this Christmas or knew the Christmas. With temperatures around 20º in some parts of the United States and 68 tornadoes recorded since 21 December, for many it was hard to get into the spirit of the time. The fact that they have to wear shorts and slippers did not help.
On this coast, temperatures have been so high that ever broke the scale meteorological institute abnormalities. In Chicago, the National Weather Service to exchanged the usual Christmas tree illuminated by a palm tree. In New York, heavy rains forced them street vendors to dismantle the Christmas stalls and in the south, strong winds have left no one sleep peacefully, reports Slate. On Lake Michigan, the wind was such that fanned houses as if an earthquake it were.
But the abnormally high temperatures are not girded only to North America. The mild and humid weather is affecting several European countries. In the UK and Ireland, has not missed rain and strong winds, a situation which should extend until the beginning of 2016 and it may even worsen. In Spain, the fires that often harass the woods in the summer have begun to detonate. In Navacerrada, not snow since November, which forced the ski resort closer to Madrid close (very) early.
The situation is common elsewhere in Europe. The ski resorts are almost empty and many tourists chose to spend this Christmas at the beach. In Portugal, temperatures have remained high for the time and the abnormally low rainfall levels. Serra da Estrela, snow or see it.
In March this year, the Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States of America (NOAA) had already warned of the possibility of 2015 turn out to be even hotter than last year. According to data becoming available by the body, the first months of the year were the warmest ever recorded. Situation, it seems, will not change until the end of the year. Winter seems even insist on coming.
El Niño, the culprit of all this
Despite the temptation to blame climate change by increasing the temperature, the culprit seems to be the same El Niño phenomenon. This year is one of the strongest (and one of the longest) ever recorded, and it is he who has caused the exceptionally high temperatures that have been recorded since the start of the year in many countries.
El Niño is a phenomenon that particularly affects South Pacific, may be extended to other areas of the globe such as North America. In the years of El Niño, the atmospheric currents change, the winds are most frequent from east to west, pushing the warmer surface water towards Indonesia, slow down and the waters are warmer off Peru. In Southeast Asia, the rains diminish, occurring extreme drought phenomena, and in South America, increased humidity makes rain more. The phenomenon also allows the appearance of hurricanes.
The analysis of the various phenomena El Niño has shown that climate change does not increase the frequency of the phenomenon, as initially suspected. However, the impacts of El Niño (extreme drought and intense rain) may feel more severely in the regions affected by climate change.
But one thing is certain: Monthly data for November, compiled by NASA, show that 2015 could be considered the warmest year ever recorded. And, since the El Nino has a prolonged effect on the atmosphere, the coming year can be even warmer.
A storm out of the ordinary
But the effects of El Niño this year do not stop by the warm weather or by heavy rain. The increase in water temperatures in the South Atlantic led to the formation of a strong storm in North America, which has now reached Europe. In the UK, the "Frank" storm, as it was dubbed, was raised to the level nine danger of flooding.
After the passage by the United Kingdom, "Frank" follow the way to Ireland and Iceland. However, one of the sites where the impact of the storm will be more noticeable in the Arctic. Strong winds will push the warm air from the South Atlantic to the North Pole, causing an increase in temperature up to 12 degrees, which rarely happens. This means that, instead of the usual -29 degrees, the temperature at the North Pole can reach even exceed zero degrees. Ie in the Arctic is likely to be warmer than in Canada and that in some areas of the United States of America, as pointed out by Mashable.
The Slate, James Morison, one of the principal investigators of the North Pole Environmental Observatory, said "never heard" in temperatures above zero degrees in the Arctic. According to data collected by the Centre, the event is unprecedented - this is the first time that this kind of temperature increase takes place in the period from December to April.
Rising temperatures in the Arctic may ultimately affect the formation of ice during the winter. This situation can become critical, since global warming has caused the sea ice melting during the months of spring, summer and fall.
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