Australia Should Probably Get Used to These Devastating Heat Waves

In the late 1990s, a particularly strong El Niño oscillation scourged the world with droughts, floods, and disruptions to the food supply. Carrying the energy equivalent of a million Hiroshima bombs, the titanic climate event was ultimately responsible for 23,000 deaths and at least $35 billion in damages.

In a scenario of unimpeded climate change, this kind of large-scale mayhem could become routine, according to distressing new research. Whereas the planet now receives an especially potent El Niño every 20 years – the term describing unusually warm waters in the equatorial Pacific – it could soon start facing them every decade, say scientists from NOAA and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science. That would mean significant social and economic disruptions to countries in the climate phenomenon's path, such as Australia, Indonesia, Ecuador, and Peru.