Page 6 December 10, 2015 TORRANCE TRIBUNE TerriAnn in Torrance By TerriAnn Ferren Anyone listening to a weather forecast within the last year certainly has heard that El Niño is coming, probably, most likely, absolutely. Weathermen and weatherwomen, along with meteorologists have been monitoring the temperature of the Pacific Ocean. Just what is El Niño? According to the California Fish and Wildlife Association website, “El Niño is a naturally occurring event in the equatorial region which causes temporary changes in the world climate. Originally, El Niño was the name used for warmer than normal sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of South America. Now, El Niño has come to refer to a whole complex of Pacific Ocean sea-surface temperature changes and global weather events.” That explanation sounded so sensible, and nothing like what I have heard on weather reports. Remember, this is about weather. Meteorologists and weathercasters are the ones who have been warning us about El Niño based on their scientific knowledge. When the sea-surface warms and travels up from South America, it may affect us. Because we may have a deluge of rain, I made some preliminary preparations. The gutters on my house are now free of pine needles and one particular drain has been ‘flushed’. I knew the drain needed to be cleaned out when I noticed a weed growing up from the spout! Going about the preparations reminded me of when Dr. Lucy Jones, seismologist expert who has worked with Caltech since 1983 and has recently been asked by Mayor Eric Garcetti to serve as Seismic Research Advisor, told me to always ‘be prepared for an earthquake’. And it is because of Dr. Jones, the calm voice after large earthquakes, that I have a cupboard full of emergency can goods, water, flashlights around the house, and slippers at the ready at night. I equate the El Niño alert to an earthquake we may have. Whether we get large amounts of rain, or less rain than expected, preparation seems prudent. I wondered what citizens thought about El Niño and if they were preparing in any special way for the near Noah-like flooding we have been warned might descend upon our area. Last week after Thanksgiving, I braved the crowds at our local mall, and asked a few shoppers what they thought about El Niño, and if they believed it was coming. Gloria Watson told me, “Yes, I believe it is coming. Have I done anything? No, but I am going to. I am working on my roof - I have already called to have it done. Trying to get my house together, that is about it.” Gloria has the same advice as Dr. Jones – be prepared. Since there were children everywhere, I decided I needed a youngsters’ point of view. “Scary, terrifying, and I don’t know. Some people just say El Niño …I have no idea what it means – they just say it is something terrifying so…I am sure it is,” said Madison Jane, age 8. Well, some children seem to be listening but being frightened won’t help. Shopping with her two children; Valentina, age 5 and Kingston, age 7 weeks, Georgia Tracy told me, “I really don’t believe it’s coming. I know I hear a lot of things, but I haven’t seen it. I did prepare though – I have the raincoats and boots, so they are ready but I haven’t seen much rain and am not going to get all freaked out about it until it actually happens.” That is a more ‘wait and see’ option – however she did prepare, just in case. “Yes, El Niño is windy. I am a little bit preparing. Ice is melting, so I am a little bit worried,” said Yoko Miyaka. Although most shoppers seemed to be more interested in the sales at the mall than the weather, when I asked them their thoughts, everyone was more than happy to give me their view. The next week while out at a local eatery, I asked Hannah Findling who was happy to share her thoughts, “I have heard that there is going to be a lot more extra rain – a lot more than California is used to - or maybe prepared for, but I am not personally doing anything to prepare for it. I am from Portland, Oregon and am pretty used to the rain. I can’t really do much to prepare myself. The city - I hope that they will get prepared. And I do believe it is a scientific occurrence - I would believe that.” Then Tara Garzon told me, “I have heard about, I haven’t been preparing for it, but I do believe in it. It is going to be very tragic. I think there might be lots of rain and we, in the beach areas may experience high tide. Even flooding.” Nearly everyone I spoke with was either preparing for the heavy rains or not very concerned. Cleaning out gutters and repairing roofs seems wise no matter what happens. The more I read about El Niño and its unpredictability, I realize even with science, sometimes we just have to wait and see what develops. My hope is that our snow pack in the Sierra Nevada grows and we continue having northern polar jet streams, which cause more snow. Rain should fall beginning in January and carry through winter into spring, if we are lucky we’ll receive what is predicted. My advice? ‘Be Prepared’ like a good Girl or Boy Scout. • Gloria Watson. El Niño is Coming? Yoko Miyaka. Georgia Tracy with her two children; Valentina, age five and Kingston, age seven-weeks.
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