The Latest Breaking News from La Niña

A shift in atmospheric rivers can have big effects on local climates — but what they are varies greatly and more research is needed.

Last year’s El Niño event brought the warmest winter on record in the continental US

Rising food prices are causing more and more people to go hungry in sub-Saharan Africa. My new research shows that an overlooked cause could be El Niño, a climate phenomenon in the Pacific that affects weather patterns globally.

It’s rare to see both Niñas at the same time, yet in August 2024, both appeared to be developing. Let’s take a closer look at what that means.

The North Atlantic Ocean has been running a fever for months, with surface temperatures at or near record highs. But cooling along the equator in both the Atlantic and eastern Pacific may finally be starting to bring some relief, particularly for vulnerable coral reef ecosystems.

In the past few years in Australia, seasonal rainfall and temperatures have left a lot of people confused. Sometimes, the hot, dry conditions usually associated with an El Niño have not eventuated. Similarly, there have been years where a La Niña did not lead to the cool, wet conditions expected.

"This very arid soil houses a treasure," ecologist María Fernanda Pérez told Live Science after the Atacama Desert produced a rare winter bloom.

Scientists used thousands of years of climate data to show that El Niño Southern Oscillations can be predicted more than two years in advance.

Scientists used thousands of years of past climate data to show that El Niño Southern Oscillations can be predicted more than two years in advance.