As we all know, there was a big snowstorm that hit the east coast last week. Some areas received around 30 inches of snow.  This article by the NPR discussing El Nino states that this massive snowstorm can possibly be attributed to recent climate change. With one of the biggest El Nino’s on record occurring this year, the northeast should be experiencing a relatively dry and mild winter. This has been true so far this year, but not when cooler arctic air dropped down from the north and hit the warm wet air flowing through the southern US. El Nino is caused by unusually warm oceans in the southern pacific and with global warming, this could happen much more frequently. While winters would be more mild in the northeast, massive storms could happen more frequently when arctic air drops into the area. This is all just a theory as of now, but we may be able to determine this as the ocean warms and El Nino’s become more frequent. Strong El Nino’s could also mean strong La Nina’s as the water cools. Strong La Nina’s would mean much cooler and wetter winters. It seems the northeast will not catch a break when it comes to climate change.

Resources:

http://www.npr.org/2016/01/27/464505488/a-big-el-nino-likely-set-last-weeks-blizzard-in-motion