The National Weather Service is set to start repairing 70 towering buoys used to track El Nino and La Nina patterns, whose damage has led scientists to warn the accuracy of forecasts is in danger.
Those data are critical to long-range outlooks, said Phil Klotzbach, lead author of Colorado State University’s seasonal Atlantic hurricane forecast. ENSO (El Nino Southern Oscillation) “plays a huge role in the global climate,” according to Klotzbach.
“It’s the most important global driver for everything from hurricane season in the Atlantic and Pacific to even global temperatures,” he said. “When you have an El Nino, the world is warmer, and when you have a La Nina, the globe tends to be cooler.”