Will El Niño Lead To Extreme Weather This Year?

08:28

May 28, 2014

Pictured are sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. El Niño is characterized by unusually warm temperatures, and La Niña by unusually cool temperatures in the equatorial Pacific. (NOAA)

Early predictions by climate experts say El Niño is coming. The unusually warm temperatures in the Pacific cause different weather patterns in the United States and elsewhere.

The last El Niño was just a few years ago, and the last "super El Niño" was in 1997. That year, from Florida to California, there were storms, tornadoes and mudslides.

Lisa Goddard, director of the International Research Institute for Climate and Society at Columbia University, speaks to Here & Now's Jeremy Hobson about what El Niño is and what might be in store for this year.

Guest

Lisa Goddard, director of the International Research Institute for Climate and Society at Columbia University's Earth Institute.

This segment aired on May 28, 2014.