El Niño is the warm phase of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and is associated with a band of warm water that develops in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean. It appears that one is developing now.
Why is this important? Because most past El Niños were associated with increasing atmospheric temperatures, while their counterpart, La Niñas, are linked to cooling phases. Bear in mind that those promoting a looming climate crisis assert that all warming is being caused by increasing CO2.
This El Niño warming effect is clearly shown in the chart below. I created it using the Multivariate ENSO Index Version 2 showing El Niños as red spikes at the bottom and the UAH satellite temperature history above.
Note: There is about a six-month lag between the peak El Niño and the peak in temperature. Also, the El Niños between 1991 and 1995 show up as a cooling phase, likely due to the cooling effect of the twin eruptions of Mt. Pinatubo and Mt. Hudson.
Next week: Linking long-term temperature trends to ENSO.