The Coming El Niño Will Be the Most Powerful Ever

Don't panic just yet, but meteorologists and climate scientists are predicting that the upcoming El Niño weather pattern will be the biggest and most powerful ever recorded. That could mean storms, wildfires, mudslides, heat waves, drought, and the list goes on and on, depending on what part of the world you're focusing on. Such weather disasters used to cause millions of deaths, but we have a couple of things going for us, such as more accurate forecasting, easier travel, and better infrastructure. Still, when something is bigger and more powerful than ever, we can't really know how bad it will be until it happens.

El Niño happens when the ocean surface temperature is at least .5°C higher than normal. That's roughly 1°F. The Pacific already at 3.8°C higher than normal, and El Niño is just getting started. AsapSCIENCE explains what it all means.