10 | OHCC LIVING | OCTOBER 2026 |
What Is El Niño?
World Meteorological Organization, a United Nations agency, has
cautioned that much of the U.S. and fire-struck Southern Europe
will have above average rain this fall.
Computer forecast models are showing that an El Niño will likely
break the all-time record for intensity when it peaks, perhaps in
the late fall. The El Niño is a natural warming of the Pacific Ocean
near the equator in South America and derives its name from "The
Christ Child" in Spanish.
Mans' continued use of coal, oil, and gas is leading to a more
combustible future for our earth. Much of the heat from the
burning of fossil fuels gets trapped in the oceans. However, during
an El Niño, the sea, in a sense, returns some of that heated buildup
back to the atmosphere. Even though this El Niño will end, the
released heat will stay in the atmosphere, along with the higher
temperatures, which will jump up again when the next El Niño
arrives.
Authorities say that the world must take these changes more
seriously: "The world must stop fueling this crisis."
On an inter-related subject, farmers will have to learn to use
less land to grow their crops, thus using less water as we have less
and less snow melt. Farmers will have to learn to grow their crops
hydroponically and Aquaponically, said to be 90% more efficient.
With less water needed, they will be less inclined to use reclaimed
water, which sometimes results in crop infections such as the recent
Cyclospora outbreak. By Peggy Goodman
Landscape
Committee
