Rare train of Pacific cyclones fueled by historic El Niño
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Hurricanes Lowell and Karina were trailed to the east by Tropical Storm Marie, then a few hundred miles south of Baja California and "expected to become a hurricane later today," the NHC said.
"El Niño warming sets the stage for these storms, which are fueled in large part by warm waters—when the tropical Pacific is warmer than normal, we see an increase in strong storms," climate scientist Julia Cole of the University of Michigan told AFP
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Peru, the world's largest anchovy catcher, was facing a devastating blow from warming seas that had gutted production, according to industry officials. In Sudan, El Niño was blamed for delaying crucial rains that had caused water levels in the Nile to drop precipitously.
El Niño is the warming phase of a natural cycle in the tropical Pacific known as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and occurs every two to seven years.
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