The Latest Breaking News from La Niña

Human-caused greenhouse gas emissions mean strong El Niño and La Niña events are occurring more often, according to our new research, which provides important new evidence of the human fingerprint on Earth’s climate.

CSIRO has found greenhouse gas emissions have likely been making El Niño and La Niña events more frequent and extreme since the 1960s. Up until now little was known about the role it played.

Months of smoke aerosols profusely pumping into the atmosphere during the 2019–2020 bushfires likely triggered a chain reaction that influenced the onset and intensity of the La Niña events, a US study has found.

The 2019-2020 bushfire season was devastating. Vast areas of pristine forest burned, many for the first time in memory. By some estimates, a billion native animals died up and down Australia’s east coast. Dozens of people died.

Smoke aerosols from the fires interacted with clouds to cool the south-eastern Pacific, helping the wet weather pattern to form, scientists believe

Warmer sea waters have many far-ranging effects. In the new pattern, some parts of the U.S. could get relief from drought, while others might see fewer hurricanes.

After three consecutive La Niña events that saw widespread rainfall, graziers are now reflecting on the lessons learned from the worst drought in living memory.

After three wet La Niña years, an El Niño now looks likely, which could cut rainfall, raise temperatures and create nightmarish bushfire conditions

The upper levels of the ocean have never been this hot. Blame the end of La Niña and the ever-present heating effect of climate change.