Climate watchers are eyeing the Pacific, and the word "super" is back on the table—and not in a good way. New data from Europe's leading weather center suggests a powerful El Niño—possibly among the strongest recorded—could form later this year, with global effects stretching into 2027, the Washington Post reports. El Niño occurs when waters in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific warm significantly; in a "super" event, that warming exceeds 2 degrees Celsius, reshaping weather patterns worldwide and often nudging global temperatures to new highs. SFGate reports that a recent NOAA long-range model tracks with the European forecast.
Impacts could include a hotter-than-normal summer in the Western US, more storms near Hawaii and in the western Pacific, and drier conditions in India, Australia, Indonesia, parts of Africa, and the Caribbean. Fewer Atlantic hurricanes are likely, but experts warn just one landfalling storm can still define a season. Scientists say a strong event would raise the odds that 2027 becomes the warmest year on record, building on a long-term warming trend driven by greenhouse gases. Still, forecasters caution that it's early: models this time of year are less reliable, and past springs have teased big El Niños that fizzled. The forecast comes as meteorologists are also warning of a particularly bad spring storm season in the US South and Midwest, the Independent reports.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
