Posts made in May, 2015
What is an El Niño event and why should we care?
Australian scientists officially declare the onset of a ‘substantial’ El Niño event in the tropical Pacific. The last mega Nino in 1997 had powerful and catastrophic effects on global weather. It caused 22,000 deaths world-wide and cost $33 billion in flood and drought-related damage. What is El Nino? The Christ child they called it, the fishermen of Northern Peru, who noticed around Christmas-time in certain years, a warm counter current flowing from the north, extending far south, lasting for months. We now know it can increase the water temperature by between four and ten degrees Centigrade. This warming of the ocean devastated the fishermen’s livelihood because it...
Read MoreCameron Diaz and California’s drought
As I write this, California is suffering a life changing drought. Here’s a letter I wrote which the Mail on Sunday published last week. ‘While it may amuse us that Cameron Diaz is not flushing the loo as regularly as she used to in order to conserve water in drought-stricken California, those wishing for rain need to be aware of the other end of the extreme weather spectrum. In researching my novel Ark Storm, I found that once every two hundred years a catastrophic storm hits California, and they are currently due one. ‘Last time it rained for 45 days, bankrupting the state. And storms of this magnitude are projected to become more frequent and more intense...
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