EL NINO AIDED IN MASSIVE CARBON DIOXIDE
RELEASE
Recently, scientist concluded that El Nino of 2014-16 caused over 3 billion tonnes of carbon to get released into the atmosphere, pushing carbon dioxide concentration to record levels. Highlight Scientist analysed the data collected by Nasa's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) satellite, which measures level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
The El Nino led to excessive carbon dioxide releases in following ways:
Hot weather and drought caused extensive wildfires in south-east Asia.
Drought in the Amazon rainforest stunted plant growth, reducing the amount of carbon they absorb while growing.
Flattening of emissions from fossil fuels:
CO2 emissions from burning of fossil fuels had flattened out to about 36.2 billion tonnes in 2014 and 2015.
EL NINO :
El Nino means The Little Boy, or Christ Child in Spanish.
It is a complex phenomenon that causes waters to warm up in east-central Pacific Ocean, which in turn causes huge changes in wind directions bringing less rain to south-east Asia and the Indian subcontinent, while increasing rain in other parts of the world.
El Nino effect typically last 9 to 12 months. It occurs on an average every 2-7 years.
