Climate scientists are warning us to buckle up for a bumpy ride. An El Ni\u00f1o has begun. By year\u2019s end, this periodic climate event might become the strongest El Ni\u00f1o on record.<\/p>\n
An El Ni\u00f1o Southern Oscillation, or ENSO, is a recurring two- to seven-year ocean-climate pattern. On June 11, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirmed Earth has officially entered the El Ni\u00f1o phase of this cycle.<\/p>\n
El Ni\u00f1o events emerge in the Eastern Pacific. Eventually, the changes in climate<\/a> they spawn will affect weather<\/a> globally. And the stronger an El Ni\u00f1o, the more costly it can be to human health, farming, buildings and our wallets.<\/p>\n Forecasters currently predict a 63 percent chance that, by winter, the new El Ni\u00f1o will prove very strong \u2014 as in a \u201csuper El Ni\u00f1o.\u201d<\/p>\n Here are four things to know as this climate pattern takes hold.<\/p>\n An ENSO\u2019s several-years-long cycle has three phases.<\/p>\n The first, known as El Ni\u00f1o, involves months of warmer than normal sea-surface temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific. Back in the 1600s, fishers in Peru noticed this warming tended to show up around Christmas. So they dubbed it \u201cEl Ni\u00f1o,\u201d which is Spanish for \u201clittle boy.\u201d It\u2019s also the name given to \u201cthe Christ child.\u201d<\/p>\nWhat\u2019s an El Ni\u00f1o?<\/h2>\n