El Nino climate condition could develop this summer, forecasters say

October 6th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A long-term study has shown that El Nino, a global climate pattern, drives Sulfur butterfly migrations across the Panama Canal. Climate change has been linked to changes in the migration of butterflies in North America and Europe but this is one of the first long-term studies of environmental factors driving long-distance migration of tropical butterflies.

September 24th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new research, scientists have determined that El Nino, the periodic eastern Pacific phenomenon credited with shielding the US and Caribbean from severe hurricane seasons, may be overshadowed by its brother in the central Pacific due to global warming. "There are two El Ninos, or flavors of El Nino," said Ben Kirtman, co-author of the study and professor of meteorology and physical oceanography at the University of Miami's Rosentstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.

September 15th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new research conducted at Texas A and M University, US, has shown evidence of a possible link between El Nino and a severe flu pandemic in 1918 that adversely affected India. The findings are based on analysis of the 1918 El Nino, which the new research shows to be one of the strongest of the 20th century.

September 11th, 2009 Hurricane season has been a dud _ so farMIAMI — It may be tempting the weather gods just to point this out, but this has been a dud of a hurricane season so far. Only two hurricanes have formed in the Atlantic over the past three months, and neither hit the U.S.

September 10th, 2009 Mild El Nino continues, strengthening expectedWASHINGTON — A weak El Nino is under way and it is expected to strengthen and last through winter, government climate researchers said Thursday. The periodic climate phenomenon is marked by warming of the central Pacific Ocean and changes in wind direction and air pressure that can affect weather around the world.

September 2nd, 2009 US wants to fill need for climate forecastsGENEVA — The global need to cope with climate change is fueling a desire to make climate forecasts as common as weather forecasts, U.S. officials attending a U.N.

August 20th, 2009 In hot water: World sets ocean temperature recordWASHINGTON — Steve Kramer spent an hour and a half swimming in the ocean Sunday — in Maine. The water temperature was 72 degrees — more like Ocean City, Md., this time of year.

August 20th, 2009 In hot water: World's ocean temps warmest recordedWASHINGTON — The world's oceans this summer are the warmest on record. The National Climatic Data Center, the government agency that keeps weather records, says the average global ocean temperature in July was 62.6 degrees.

August 19th, 2009 UN reports 'weak to moderate' El Nino in PacificGENEVA — A "weak to moderate" El Nino weather system has developed in the tropical Pacific Ocean and could create unusual weather patterns around the world through March, a U.N. agency said Wednesday.

August 13th, 2009 Tropical Storm Guillermo forms far out in PacificMIAMI — Forecasters say Tropical Storm Guillermo has formed far from land in the Eastern Pacific with winds sustained at 40 mph. The National Hurricane Center says the seventh named storm of the season in the Pacific formed Wednesday night about 760 miles southwest of Baja, Calif.

August 6th, 2009 US forecasters lower Atlantic hurricane outlookMIAMI — The Atlantic hurricane season will be less active than originally predicted, government forecasters said Thursday after the first two months of the half-year stretch passed without any named storms developing. Updating its May outlook, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said a warmer weather pattern called an El Nino over the Pacific Ocean was acting as a damper to tropical storms in the Caribbean and neighboring Atlantic.

July 9th, 2009 WASHINGTON — El Nino's back. Government scientists say the periodic warming of water in the tropical Pacific Ocean that can affect weather around the world has returned.

July 3rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - A study by climatologists at the Georgia Institute of Technology suggests that a new form of El Nino may be changing potentially causing not only a greater number of hurricanes than in average years, but also a greater chance of hurricanes making landfall. "Normally, El Nino results in diminished hurricanes in the Atlantic, but this new type is resulting in a greater number of hurricanes with greater frequency and more potential to make landfall," said Peter Webster, professor at Georgia Tech's School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.

July 2nd, 2009 New form of El Nino may increase Atlantic stormsWASHINGTON — El Nino may have a split personality. The warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean has long been known to affect weather around the world, but researchers now say it may come in two forms with different impacts.

February 15th, 2009 CANBERRA - Australia may face even higher risk of fire next summer due to extreme temperatures, a professor told ABC Radio's A.M. programme Monday.