El Niño vs climate change: Which had more influence over the powerful Hurricane Polo?
El Niño turbocharged the Pacific hurricane – but climate change had an even greater impact, scientists find.
A new study published on October 14 reveals that both climate change and El Niño contributed to Hurricane Polo's explosive intensification, becoming the longest-lasting Category 5 storm ever recorded in the Pacific. Researchers from World Weather Attribution and Climate Central found that global warming due to burning fossil fuels added nearly 10 kph to the storm's strength, while El Niño contributed around 8 kph.
Climate change made the conditions fueling the hurricane 23 times more likely, while El Niño made it 14 times more likely. The study, which has not yet undergone peer-review, calculated the impact of climate change by comparing the warmer conditions to a hypothetical world that had not warmed by 1.4°C since pre-industrial times.
Climate scientist and study co-author Friederike Otto emphasized that while El Niño comes and goes, climate change only worsens, meaning every future hurricane in the East Pacific will be stronger due to the climate change signal.
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Also reported by 1 other outlet
- Study says global warming did more than El Niño to turbocharge Hurricane Polo winnipegfreepress.com
