However, he did not recognize that it was linked to changes in the Pacific Ocean or El Niño. Sir Gilbert Walker discovered the “Southern Oscillation,” or large-scale changes in sea level pressure across Indonesia and the tropical Pacific. They referred to the warming as “El Niño,” ( niño being Spanish for a boy child) in connection with the Christmas holiday. Before La Niña was even recognized, South American fisherman noticed the warm up of coastal waters occurred every so often around Christmas. Why is that? Well, that is a fluke of history. So, by now, you might have noticed that while “ENSO” is a nice catchall acronym for all three states, that acronym doesn’t actually have the word La Niña in it. We also focus on ENSO because we can often predict its arrival many seasons in advance of its strongest impacts on weather and climate. Maps by NOAA, based on data provided by NOAA View.ĮNSO is one of the most important climate phenomena on Earth due to its ability to change the global atmospheric circulation, which in turn, influences temperature and precipitation across the globe. Maps of sea surface temperature anomaly in the Pacific Ocean during a strong La Niña (top, December 1988) and a strong El Niño (bottom, December 1997). However, there are some instances when the ocean can look like it is in an El Niño or La Niña state, but the atmosphere is not playing along (or vice versa). Often tropical Pacific SSTs are generally close to average. In general, the cooler the ocean temperature anomalies, the stronger the La Ni ña (and vice-versa). The normal easterly winds along the equator become even stronger. Over Indonesia, rainfall tends to increase while rainfall decreases over the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. La Niña: A cooling of the ocean surface, or below-average sea surface temperatures (SST), in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.In general, the warmer the ocean temperature anomalies, the stronger the El Ni ño (and vice-versa). The low-level surface winds, which normally blow from east to west along the equator (“easterly winds”), instead weaken or, in some cases, start blowing the other direction (from west to east or “westerly winds”). Over Indonesia, rainfall tends to become reduced while rainfall increases over the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. El Niño: A warming of the ocean surface, or above-average sea surface temperatures (SST), in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.El Niño and La Niña are the extreme phases of the ENSO cycle between these two phases is a third phase called ENSO-neutral. This oscillating warming and cooling pattern, referred to as the ENSO cycle, directly affects rainfall distribution in the tropics and can have a strong influence on weather across the United States and other parts of the world. On periods ranging from about three to seven years, the surface waters across a large swath of the tropical Pacific Ocean warm or cool by anywhere from 1☌ to 3☌, compared to normal. The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a recurring climate pattern involving changes in the temperature of waters in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. Note: Most of the information in this article is courtesy of. What is El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO)?
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