Weather, Climate Change and El Niño

Hello everyone, and welcome to a new episode of the podcast "Yalla: Learning Hebrew with Steph", a podcast for intermediate Hebrew learners. I'm Steph, and today we're going to talk about a very important subject: the weather and climate change. Before we start, I want to say a big thank you to Tom. Tom is a listener of the podcast, and he sent me a message with an interesting report from Israel's Meteorological Service. So Tom, this episode is for you! And if you also have an interesting idea for an episode of our podcast, you're welcome to send me a message. When I read the report about the weather, England was in the middle of a heatwave, and because of that I felt very connected to the subject. So let's talk about the weather, climate change, and something called "El Niño", and how it can affect the weather in Israel. Okay, so like I said, it's very hot in England right now, and it's been that way for two months. And anyone who lives here knows that this really isn't normal. The British are known for talking a lot about the weather, but usually those conversations are about bad weather, about the rain that doesn't stop and about our rainy summers. But this year, it's completely different. This summer we had five heatwaves. In England, a "heatwave" isn't just a feeling that it's hot outside, it actually has an official definition. For it to be called a heatwave, the temperature has to pass a certain number for at least three days in a row. And what's interesting is that this number, the one that decides whether there's a heatwave or not, changes from region to region! For example, for them to say there's a heatwave in the city I live in, the temperature has to reach 27 degrees. But in London the temperature has to pass 28 degrees (by the way, this year the temperature in London even reached 38 degrees!). In the north of the country, on the other hand, where it's usually cooler, it's enough for the temperature to reach 25 degrees for three days for it to officially be called a heatwave. In my opinion, the hardest thing about this situation isn't the heat itself, it's the fact that the country simply isn't built for heat like this. Almost nobody has air conditioning at home, and there's no air conditioning in most offices, shops or cafés. So when a heatwave arrives, there's just nowhere to escape to: not at home, not at work and not outside. On top of that, buildings in England are built to hold the heat in for the cold winter, but in summer that becomes a problem, because it's very hard to cool the house down. So every time the weather gets a bit strange, everyone asks: is this because of climate change? This year, the meteorological service agrees that the heatwaves are probably a result of climate change. Right now, almost all of England is in a drought. "Drought" means a situation where no rain falls for a long time. Because there's been no rain for two months already, residents are being asked to save water. And all of this isn't a one-off event, it's something that's starting to happen more and more in recent years. On top of the drought, there are now big wildfires in Europe. Some of them are considered the worst the region has ever had. Forest fires cause air pollution and damage the local economy. They also destroy animal habitats. It's important to know that climate change doesn't only cause hot weather, it also affects the weather in winter. It causes very extreme weather: it gets very cold, and a huge amount of rain falls, which creates flooding. Anyway, we've talked enough about what's happening here in England. Now, let's talk a bit about the weather in Israel. You've probably noticed that it's very different from the weather in England, but did you know that it also changes a lot within Israel itself? Something that surprised me a lot is that even though Israel is such a small country, the weather there really does change from place to place. For example, if we travel north, to the Galilee region, the weather there is cooler. There's a lot of green nature there, mountains and hills. Cities like Tzfat are so high up that sometimes it even snows there in winter! Who would have believed that hot Israel has snow? Tel Aviv, on the other hand, sitting on the coast, has completely different weather. The summer there is hot, and most importantly, humid. Because of the humidity, the air sometimes feels really tropical, sticky and heavy. In winter, though, the weather turns cool, rainy and sometimes even stormy. And then, if we keep going further south, towards the Negev desert and the city of Eilat, the weather changes again! There it's strong heat and completely dry. Almost no rain falls there all year. Even in winter, when there's snow in the north and storms in Tel Aviv, winter in Eilat is simply warm, pleasant and sunny. I remember that the first time I visited Israel, my husband took me to the Carmel Market in Tel Aviv. It was right in the middle of summer and in the middle of the day. If you've ever been to the Carmel Market, you probably know how busy it is. There are loads of interesting stalls full of food, clothes and gifts, but the place is small and very crowded. Because of the heat that day, I thought I was going to faint. So if you're coming to visit Israel in the summer, my best recommendation is to visit the Carmel Market earlier in the morning, while it's still cool and pleasant. Now, there's something else this year that you may have heard about, and that's El Niño. This time it's particularly strong, one of the strongest there's been in recent years. So what actually is El Niño? In simple words, it's a recurring natural phenomenon where part of the Pacific Ocean warms up more than usual. It happens every few years, and when it's especially strong, it causes the weather to change all over the world. That means more rain falls in some places, and in other places the weather is drier and there's drought. El Niño isn't the same thing as climate change. They're different phenomena, but they can influence each other. For example, El Niño causes temperatures to rise above the average, and because temperatures are also rising generally, together their effect is much more significant. Do you remember the interesting report that Tom sent me from the Israeli Meteorological Service? Well, it says in there how El Niño will affect the amount of rain in Israel. Studies say that a strong El Niño leads to more rain in winter, especially in the centre and south of the country. It could be that this coming winter will be the wettest there's been in recent years. So to my listeners in Israel, and in other places around the world too, I'm sorry, but it looks like we're in for a very wet season! That's everything for today's episode. Once again, a big thank you to Tom for sending me the report and the message. If this episode interested you, or if you have ideas for more episodes, I'd love to hear from you. You can post a message on my website or comment here on the podcast. As always, you can find the words from the podcast, with examples, and also the transcript in English and Hebrew, on my website. I'll put a link in the podcast description. Thank you so much for listening to another episode of the podcast "Yalla: Learning Hebrew with Steph", and until next time, take care and keep learning.