According to UNAM, both “El Niño” and “La Niña” belong to the climatic oscillation known as El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). In the case of Mexico, it is predicted that in February there could be events of arctic cold, mostly dry with severe frosts.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that the “La Niña” phenomenon has developed in the equatorial Pacific, increasing concerns about drought in California and the southern United States, as well as in the farmlands of South America.
In the case of Mexico, it is predicted that in February there could be events of arctic cold, mostly dry with severe frosts.
“There is a 59 percent probability that La Niña will persist during February-April, followed by a 60 percent probability of neutral conditions in March-May,” reported NOAA.
What is “La Niña”?
Historically, the warmest year, at least in Mexico City, was April 15, 2024, with 34.2 degrees Celsius, breaking the record set on May 9, 1998 (33.9 degrees Celsius).
According to the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), both “El Niño” and “La Niña” belong to the climatic oscillation known as El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The first refers to the warm phase, that is, a warming, and the second to the cold phase or a recurrent cooling on the surface of the equatorial Pacific Ocean in the region that includes 5°N and 5°S.
“La Niña is born from a process where there is an anomalous cooling in the Pacific Ocean, which generates changes in how air masses move, and that affects each part of the planet differently, favoring the formation of heavy rainfall in some areas or extreme droughts in others,” said Dr. Alejandro Jaramillo Moreno, from the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate Change at UNAM in an interview with Gaceta UNAM.
“La Niña”
How does it affect Mexico?
The variations in the climate that occur in Mexico are largely associated with the occurrence of ENSO.
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UNAM explains that with the phenomenon of “La Niña” the drought conditions become extreme and all the problems related to water resources are aggravated.
“In the areas where ‘La Niña’ favors droughts, the rains arrive with little water and this affectation is extended until the following year. “So, this phenomenon harms the populations and ecosystems that subsist based on the demand for water,” explained Dr. Alejandro Jaramillo Moreno, from UNAM.
Although a different event can also occur: it rains a lot and causes floods like those currently being experienced in countries such as Colombia, Australia, Ecuador and Brazil, among others.
The UNAM specialist says that the effects of the “La Niña” phenomenon are different in the different regions of Mexico and each of them suffers different effects from this phenomenon.
“In northern Mexico, ‘La Niña’ generated conditions that favor drought: much of the humidity and precipitation that arrives through, for example, cold fronts, stops coming because atmospheric circulation pushes these phenomena further towards the northwest of the United States, where it becomes much rainier. On the other hand, the south of our country became a little more humid,” he explained to Gaceta UNAM.
Source: sinembargo
