After all of the talk about The Evangelical Climate Initiative (ECI) and their warnings about Global Warming, here is a little note from our friends at the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) that a La Nina effect was developing off of the South American Coast. A La Nina is the cooling of the water in the Pacific Ocean beginning off of South America and slowly moving northwards. It has been noted that the ocean water is about 1-2 degrees (f) cooler than normal since the beginning of the year.
For those who are unfamiliar with this phenomena, it is the opposite of the well-known El Nino. An El Nino is marked by an increase in the water temperature in the ocean. Both of these phenomena change rain patterns from the normal. An El Nino for instance will generally bring an increase in rain to the Southwest of the United States, while a La Nina will typically result in drier weather.
The WMO news release admits that both, "El Nino and La Nina are naturally occurring cycles." Of course, the story has to go on to state that, "there is much speculation among climate scientists that man-made global warming may make them more frequent and more vicious and that this trend may have already started." What is not mentioned is that both phenomena, while known to local fishermen in South America, was not mentioned in scientific literature until 1892 when Captain Camilo Carrilo discussed the phenomena at the Geographical Society Congress in Lima, Peru. It as further identified in 1924 by Gilbert Walker. However, it was thought to be a "local phenomena" until the major El Nino of 1982-83 and the resulting devastating weather (particularly on the West Coast of California) initiated more intense study. So, in effect, this is a weather phenomena that only has significant study going back about 25 years. So when the WMO claims that this emerging La Nina is "unprecedented in the historical record for a La Nina of substantial intensity or duration to develop so early in the year," one must remember that the "historical record" is not all that impressive.
The WMO is a United Nations agency. You can see the United States agency, the National Ocean and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) and the National Weather Service's February 9th notice here.
The fact is God has created a massively intricate weather system on this planet (Job 38:2-38), a system that even to this day we have very little precise knowledge of the "how and why" questions.
Posted by Narnia3 at March 4, 2006 5:57 PM | TrackBack