For 75 years, meteorologists determined the occurrence of phenomena based on the difference in temperatures measured in three regions of the Tropical Pacific with the average temperature considered normal
The US Atmosphere and Ocean Agency, NOAA, announced a new way to determine the occurrence of El Niño and La Niña phenomena. The change was necessary because global warming has caused significant and very rapid climate changes in recent years, making the previous method no longer work.
For 75 years, meteorologists determined the occurrence of phenomena based on the difference in temperatures measured in three regions of the Tropical Pacific with the average temperature considered normal. But temperatures have been rising so much and so quickly that the agency has started updating its concept of “normal” every five years.
Still, it wasn’t working. Therefore, the agency decided to create a new El Niño/La Niña index.
For the new index, the average temperature is compared to that of all tropical regions of the Pacific. The measurement difference reaches half a degree, which is quite significant.
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