“A change in the weather is sufficient to recreate the world and ourselves” – Marcel Proust.
Scientists and meteorologists are predicting that we are shifting into an El Niño pattern this year. While that in and of itself is not overly problematic, there’s a growing concern based on collected data that we may be shortly entering into a “Super” El Niño weather pattern. This change in weather introduces several significant issues which will have a dramatic impact on many of us in profound ways. In this video, I will explain why you should be paying attention to this to this weather phenomenon, what to expect, why it matters, and most importantly, how to prepare for it.
The Transition
What It Means By Location
In contrast, during La Niña (the weather pattern we have just left), trade winds are even stronger than usual, pushing more warm water towards Asia and Australia, leading to a northward jet stream shift. This weather pattern results in drought in the southern US and heavy rains and flooding in the Pacific Northwest and Canada. Additionally, La Niña tends to cause warmer than average temperatures in the South and cooler than normal temperatures in the North during winter. It also increases the number of hurricanes that develop in the Atlantic and allows stronger hurricanes to form.
What Will Be The Impact?
Recent avian flu outbreaks have already caused a reduction in wild bird populations, leading to an explosion of insects. If we’re indeed in store for a super El Niño, we can expect crop failures, insect infestations, and plant blight to become increasingly widespread.
It’s becoming increasingly clear that we may be witnessing the end of the agricultural green revolution. Even if you don’t experience the devastating effects of wildfires, droughts, floods, or extreme weather, you’ll undoubtedly feel the repercussions of a failing food supply chain.
As a prepper, it is critical that you take action now and start getting more local with your food resources. Overall, ensuring our food supply against crop failures requires a holistic approach that involves improving our agricultural practices, diversifying our food sources, and supporting local food systems. Start growing or producing at least some of what you eat, learn to preserve and store food, and cook and eat from your preps. A super El Niño will be catastrophic for our food supply, and it’s vital to prepare for the worst. While we may have an inkling of how bad it will be this year, we should be prepping for the worst-case scenario right now.
What You Should Be Doing
Unlike your great-grandfather, you probably flip a switch for your electricity that is generated someplace else and travels across miles of thinly strung wire. Unlike his generation, you probably just turn on a faucet that connects to a carefully regulated and cleaned water supply instead of lugging pales from the well spigot. Unlike those who lived a century or more ago, you probably don’t grow and raise most of your food but instead, have it shipped hundreds of miles to electrically cooled refrigerators in grocery stores that have less than 72 hours’ worth of food for a fraction of the population in their vicinity. If the system you live in now experiences one of your ancestor’s significant weather events or one that’s even bigger than anything they experienced, expect everything to fall apart and stay broken for quite some time.
So, to answer the question of what you should be doing–you should be prepping as if you are walking on abandoned train tracks and you hear a train coming. You should be prepping to put in place the resources that your ancestors put in place to make it through their uncertain times. Stored food and water is a start. Being able to produce some of your own energy after a disaster or prolonged down period is an added plus. Having basic medical skills and kits to endure whatever disasters a super El Nino can throw at you will put the odds back in your favor.
Prep What Fails
When these extreme weather events occur, you can’t run to the grocery store and pick up what you need for dinner. After the deadly Buffalo blizzard just four months ago, many families were scrambling to find food to feed their families. Others had so much food that they opened their doors and fed hundreds of desperate people. Which will you be when the storm comes?
Think about all the little services you depend upon, from electricity to cook or for light to see to urgent care or an emergency room to patch you up when you are injured. Imagine those services are gone– no firefighters, police, or EMTs can reach you. What basics do you need to prep to survive for a few days until services are restored? Minimally, put that in place. Ideally, prep for a couple of weeks or months on your own. I’ve got several videos that cover these issues, from water storage to filtration, food storage to cooking, and generators to off-grid renewables. I’ll put links to those playlist below.
As these weather patterns shift ahead of schedule, make sure you adopt a long view of them and how they can instantly and dramatically impact your life. Prep for the most obvious things that will befall you. In this case, it’s the extreme weather that will happen to you. It will likely be experienced by you far worse than your great-grandparents experienced anything similar. If you have ever heard their tales of how they survived, why would you think something similar or worse couldn’t happen again?
As always, stay safe out there.
LINKS:
Start Preparing – Introductory Guide – https://courses.cityprepping.com/get-started/