But instead of El Niño being present this year, the phenomenon’s colder sibling, La Niña, took hold in the tropical Pacific. Characterized by cooler-than-average ocean temperatures, La Niña years tend not to set global, all-time high temperature records. ADIf one pictures global warming as a car rolling down a hill, El Niño acts as a gas pedal, speeding the descent, whereas La Niña serves as a modest application of the brakes. What’s happening now, scientists say, is that even La Niña years are setting global temperature records, due to the overpowering influence of human-caused warming from decades of greenhouse gas emissions. According to Munich Re, losses from natural disasters in 2020 came to $210 billion, which the reinsurance giant tied in part to global warming.

Source: Washington Post January 08, 2021 07:06 UTC