Fire and Rain Trivia Quiz

Answer: it causes warmer than average sea surface temperatures

El Niņo ("the boy" in Spanish) is the warming phase of the global climate phenomenon known as ENSO (El Niņo-Southern Oscillation); the cooling phase is called La Niņa ("the girl"). El Niņo is a shortened form of "El Niņo de la Navidad" (The Christmas Boy), a name given to this weather event by Peruvian fishermen. La Niņa was originally referred to as the anti-El Niņo or El Viejo ("the old man"). Each phase occurs every two to seven years, lasting about one year; neutral periods of variable duration occur in between.

Associated with higher than normal air pressure over Indonesia and Australia, El Niņo raises the sea surface temperature in the tropical Pacific Ocean. As El Niņo events are more frequent than their opposites, this has a noticeable effect on global temperature trends. Typically, an El Niņo year will see marked disruptions in global weather patterns, with regions affected by drought and others by storms and high rainfall.

In 2026 El Niņo began to develop in May. By early June the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned that the event was shaping up to be one of the strongest on record. By August, average global sea surface temperatures had reached a record high of 21.1 °C (70.0 °F).

Answer: Fern

While hurricanes and cyclones are officially named by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), this is not true of winter storms. However, in the US it has become common since the 2010s to give people's names (like those used for hurricanes) to these recurring winter phenomena. This trend, introduced by The Weather Channel, has been criticized by experts and other media outlets, but has proved popular with the public.

Winter storm Fern developed on 22 January 2026 and moved across the Central US towards the Northeast, where it dumped massive amounts of snow and freezing rain before heading south. By 27 January, over 250 million people had been affected in the US and parts of Atlantic Canada and northern Mexico, with widespread power outages, flight cancellations and road accidents. 174 fatalities occurred, making Fern the second-deadliest winter storm in North America after the one (named Uri) that caused the Texas power crisis of 2021.

The storm was accompanied by sub-freezing temperatures that turned the ice-covered snow into a hard mass that was extremely difficult to remove and slow to melt - fully deserving the name of "snowcrete". Like other winter storms in recent years, Fern was given the somewhat humorous nickname of "Snowmageddon".

The three wrong options are all names that have been used for past winter storms, though - unlike Fern - they have no botanical connections.

Answer: Virginia

Weather whiplash is a familiar phenomenon for people who live in the eastern US, especially during spring and autumn. Having the A/C on one day and the heating the next day is far from uncommon. However, the wild weather swing that occurred between 11 and 12 March in Northern Virginia took things to a whole different level.

On 11 March, the region immediately south and west of Washington DC experienced an early taste of summer, with the thermometer hitting 30 °C (86 °F) around 3 pm. Shortly after midnight on 12 March, a temperature of 25 °C (77 °F) was recorded in Arlington County - which would feel quite warm even in summer. However, a drastic change was just around the corner. By 8 am the temperature had plummeted to 10.5 °C (51 °F), and before 2 pm had further dropped to a chilly 0.5 °C (33 °F). Light snow began to fall around midday, though it melted later in the day.

After having personally experienced such an extraordinary weather event, I was only partially surprised to see that it had made it into the list of all-time weather records.

Answer: True

June marks the beginning of autumn in the Southern Hemisphere, so a heatwave in Antarctica at that time of the year is certainly a historic event. The highest temperature (15.4°C/59.7°F) was reached on 5-6 June at Esperanza Base in the Trinity Peninsula, the northernmost part of the Antarctic Peninsula. This broke the previous record of 13.3 °C (56 °F) set in 1998 in the same place. The normal average for the season in that coastal part of Antarctica (where the climate is milder than in the brutally cold interior) is -10°C to -20°C (14°F to -4°F)

Accompanied by rain falling on glaciers and snow turning to slush, this event caused widespread concern among scientists. While a one-off might be unlikely to significantly affect global sea levels, repeated occurrences of such higher-than-normal temperatures would be seriously alarming. Researchers have attributed the anomalously high temperatures recorded in June 2026 to human-driven climate change rather than natural factors such as El Niņo.

Answer: Rhine

Between May and September 2026 Europe experienced no less than four heatwaves, with temperatures that broke records across the continent even in countries, such as the UK, not normally known for hot summers. These unusual, longer than normal spells of torrid heat were accompanied by persistent drought, which forced countries to restrict water use, increased the number of wildfires and reduced the flow of water in the continent's rivers. The economic impact of these conditions, caused mainly by climate change (to whose effects Europe is particularly vulnerable), was massive.

Most European rivers were affected by the drought, some worse than others. Experts identified the Rhine, the Danube, the Loire and the Po (Italy's longest river) as the worst hit, though not the only ones. The Rhine, which flows through Switzerland, Germany, France and the Netherlands, had record low water levels for much of the summer, especially at chokepoints such as Bingen in western Germany, exposing sections of the riverbed as well as old shipwrecks, archaeological remains and wartime ordnance. The lowest water level was recorded at the key choke point of Kaub (Rhineland-Palatinate) on 15 August - an astonishing 6 cm (2.3 in).

The low water levels of European rivers did not only impact the traffic of goods and passengers, with negative consequences for supply chains and tourism, among others. It also disrupted the generation of hydroelectric power and caused at least one nuclear power plant to be shut down.

Answer: Mallorca

Marine heatwaves usually occur over much vaster areas than those on land and can persist for months or even years - with devastating effects on marine ecosystems. Being almost completely enclosed by land, the Mediterranean Sea is prone to becoming overheated during a prolonged heatwave. The average temperature of the Mediterranean has been steadily increasing for decades, as is its salinity level - due to lower precipitation not compensating for evaporation.

The temperatures recorded during the summer of 2026 in the Mediterranean Sea, however, were out of the ordinary even in such a context. Though the offshore buoy of the islet of Dragonera, just off the west coast of Mallorca, the largest of the Balearic Islands, has often recorded higher-than-normal water temperatures, the one recorded on 5 August shattered all previous records - sparking widespread concern about the effects of such changes on the fishing industry.

Nearly 80% of the Western Mediterranean was affected by marine heatwaves during August 2026, with temperatures up to 6 °C (42.8 °F) above the seasonal average recorded in several parts of the region.

Answer: thawing of permafrost

On the morning of 25 August 2026, Gyirong Port - a land port and border crossing on the border of China (Tibet) and Nepal at the confluence of two rivers - was struck by a series of flash floods and mudslides. At first the cause was believed to be an earthquake, which was later determined to be the collapse of a glacier that had caused seismic waves. Although the mechanics of the event are still unclear, experts believe that a portion of a glacier fell from a great height into the river in the valley below, where Gyirong Port was situated. The disaster claimed the lives of nearly 1,500 people, though the death toll was likely to be much higher because of the number of missing persons - over 6,000 between China and Nepal.

The ultimate cause of this tragedy resides in the effects of climate change - particularly pronounced in high-mountain Asia - on the layer of permafrost that holds the massive glaciers of the region in place. Permafrost is ground that remains at a temperature of or below 0°C (32 °F) for at least two consecutive years. In recent times, global warming has weakened this "glue", endangering not only the glaciers of that vast region of Asia, but also settlements and infrastructure whose stability depends on that solid foundation.

Answer: palm oil production

Indonesia is the world's largest island country, consisting of over 17,000 islands of every size. Its vast forested areas are home to many unique animal and plant species, sadly threatened by the two interconnected factors of human activity and climate change. Though wildfires have plagued the country for decades, those that occurred in early September 2026 were particularly intense and destructive due to unusually dry conditions caused by a strong El Niņo.

In addition, various practices geared to increasing the extent of cultivated land - especially palm oil plantations - have left the land extremely dry and prone to wildfires. Fires are also often started intentionally to speed up land clearance but can easily get out of control. Palm oil production, along with mining, is a major component of Indonesia's economy: the country's output amounts to nearly 60% of the world production of this fat, which has become essential in many industries.

The Indonesia wildfires affected several provinces, in particular West Kalimantan (Borneo), South Papua (New Guinea) and South Sumatra. Besides its detrimental effect on the health of the resident population, the dense smoke haze limited visibility on inland roads and also at sea, hampering traffic in the Strait of Malacca, one of the world's major waterways.

Answer: Tokyo

Heavy rain is far from rare in Tokyo, especially during the months of September and October. The summer of 2026, however, saw unusually high rainfall throughout the season, culminating in the record streak that occurred between 27 August and 30 September. Over those 35 days, the Japanese capital - one of the world's most populous urban areas - received a staggering 629 mm (24.7 in) of rain, over three times the normal amount for the season. Tokyo also experienced a mere 45.8 hours of sunshine and a total of 14 completely sunless days.

Driven by El Niņo, this unusually long-lasting and abundant rainfall damaged crops and caused spikes in the price of produce. The lack of sunlight and damp conditions also had a negative effect on the population's well-being, with many suffering from headaches, dizziness and mild depression. This streak of wet weather was the longest recorded in Japan since 1886, breaking the previous record of 33 consecutive days set in June-July 2019.

The experts at Japan Meteorological Agency believe global warming to be the main driver of recent changes in the country's climate.

Answer: Atacama Desert

The coastal Atacama Desert in northern Chile is the world's driest non-polar desert. In fact, space agencies such as NASA use its most arid zones - some of which have not seen any rainfall in centuries - to replicate the lifeless environment of Mars. However, in the late winter of 2026 El Niņo caused heavy rain - over 180 mm (7 in) in some areas - to fall in this inhospitable environment; snow also fell at higher altitudes.

This very unusual amount of precipitation woke up millions of seeds and bulbs of plants native to the desert that had been dormant for long years, triggering an explosion of colourful wildflowers. Stunning photos of this rare phenomenon, which in Spanish is called "desierto florido" (desert in bloom) can be found around the Internet.

Unfortunately, the heavy rains of the early spring of 2026 also led to flooding and landslides that caused widespread damage in northern Chile.