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Bengaluru: Nearly 200 ecologists have appealed to fellow researchers and field practitioners to prepare for the potentially “devastating” effects on wildlife and ecosystems they say the upcoming ‘Super’ El Niño will bring. 

The open appeal urges fellow ecologists to respond by strengthening and expanding research and monitoring efforts to document the impacts of the El Nino so that they can be better understood.

Predictions for a ‘super El Niño’

The El Niño is one of the three phases of a complex climate phenomenon called the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), which is caused by fluctuating sea surface temperatures and atmospheric changes in the tropical Pacific Ocean. An El Niño occurs when the tropical Pacific Ocean warms up, and is associated with weak monsoons and reduced rainfall in many regions, including most of South Asia and India. For instance, nearly half of the droughts that occur in the monsoon in India tend to be associated with an El Niño, according to atmospheric scientist Raghu Murtugudde.

An El Niño has already set in worldwide, and over India as well. And this one will be particularly intense, several scientists and international organisations have warned. Climate scientist Roxy Mathew Koll had told The Wire in July that with the onset of this El Niño, we are likely to witness one of the hottest years ever recorded in human history. 

A “strong” El Niño is developing and expected to........

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