In March this year, parts of the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic Oceans witnessed the highest temperatures. And, the average ocean temperature globally came in just shy of the 2016 record.
In April, a tropical depression was formed in the eastern Pacific and it’s the earliest tropical cyclone in the area since record keeping started in the 70s.
These two facts are connected- warming water is changing the frequency and size of tropical storms.
A new forecast also showed that this year’s hurricane season between June and November would be the worst ever.
The Worst Hurricane Season May Ensue
This would happen assuming there’s a La Nina- a pattern of weather which blows warm water into the Atlantic and dredges up cooler water in the Pacific and increases the chance of tropical storms in the Atlantic and fewer in the Pacific.
If La Nina doesn’t happen, scientists predict there will be fewer hurricanes, between 14 and 23.
However, signs indicate of cooling temperature oceans in the Pacific in the next months that could lower the risk of an El Nino, the opposite of La Nina, which will avert storms in the Atlantic.
Will All Storms Hit the Land?
Just because the forecast indicates of an active season of hurricanes in the Atlantic, it doesn’t mean that all of them will hit the land. And, there’s no method of predicting this far out.
However, scientists know that the El Nino is probably ‘on vacation’ this year which couldn’t come at a less favourable time.
Namely, the US and other countries that border the Atlantic are full on with the pandemic and another disaster could put major pressure on the already shaky system for disaster response.
