New form of El Nino may increase storms

WASHINGTON (AP) — El Ni ±o may have a split personality.

The warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean has long been known to affect weather around the world, but researchers now say it may come in two forms with different impacts.

The traditional El Ni ±o tends to reduce the number of Atlantic hurricanes. But a form Georgia Tech scientists call El Ni ±o Modoki can lead to more hurricanes than usual in the Atlantic Ocean. Modoki, from Japanese, refers to something that is “similar but different.”

The traditional El Ni ±o involves a periodic warming of the water in the eastern part of the tropical Pacific. Indeed, it was first noticed by Peruvian fishermen, who named it after the baby Jesus because it tended to first appear around Christmastime.

In El Ni ±o Modoki, on the other hand, the warming occurs farther to the west, in the central Pacific.

It’s not clear why this new form is occurring, said Peter J. Webster, a professor at Georgia Tech’s School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and a co-author of a report on the finding in today’s edition of the journal Science.