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What are El Niño and La Niña?
El Niño and La Niña are climate patterns in the Pacific Ocean that can affect weather worldwide.
During normal conditions in the Pacific ocean, trade winds blow west along the equator, taking warm water from South America towards Asia. To replace that warm water, cold water rises from the depths — a process called upwelling. El Niño and La Niña are two opposing climate patterns that break these normal conditions. Scientists call these phenomena the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle. El Niño and La Niña can both have global impacts on weather, wildfires, ecosystems, and economies. Episodes of El Niño and La Niña typically last nine to 12 months, but can sometimes last for years. El Niño and La Niña events occur every two to seven years, on average, but they don’t occur on a regular schedule. Generally, El Niño occurs more frequently than La Niña.
El Niño
During El Niño, trade winds weaken. Warm water is pushed back east, toward the west coast of the Americas.
El Niño means Little Boy in Spanish. South American fishermen first noticed periods of unusually warm water in the Pacific Ocean in the 1600s. The full name they used was El Niño de Navidad, because El Niño typically peaks around December.
El Niño can affect our weather significantly. The warmer waters cause the Pacific jet stream to move south of its neutral position. With this shift, areas in the northern U.S. and Canada are dryer and warmer than usual. But in the U.S. Gulf Coast and Southeast, these periods are wetter than usual and have increased flooding.
El Niño causes the Pacific jet stream to move south and spread further east. During winter, this leads to wetter conditions than usual in the Southern U.S. and warmer and drier conditions in the North.
El Niño also has a strong effect on marine life off the Pacific coast. During normal conditions, upwelling brings water from the depths to the surface; this water is cold and nutrient rich. During El Niño, upwelling weakens or stops altogether. Without the nutrients from the deep, there are fewer phytoplankton off the coast. This affects fish that eat phytoplankton and, in turn, affects everything that eats fish. The warmer waters can also bring tropical species, like yellowtail and albacore tuna, into areas that are normally too cold.
La Niña
La Niña means Little Girl in Spanish. La Niña is also sometimes called El Viejo, anti-El Niño, or simply "a cold event." La Niña has the opposite effect of El Niño. During La Niña events, trade winds are even stronger than usual, pushing more warm water toward Asia. Off the west coast of the Americas, upwelling increases, bringing cold, nutrient-rich water to the surface.
These cold waters in the Pacific push the jet stream northward. This tends to lead to drought in the southern U.S. and heavy rains and flooding in the Pacific Northwest and Canada. During a La Niña year, winter temperatures are warmer than normal in the South and cooler than normal in the North. La Niña can also lead to a more severe hurricane season.
La Niña causes the jet stream to move northward and to weaken over the eastern Pacific. During La Niña winters, the South sees warmer and drier conditions than usual. The North and Canada tend to be wetter and colder.
During La Niña, waters off the Pacific coast are colder and contain more nutrients than usual. This environment supports more marine life and attracts more cold-water species, like squid and salmon, to places like the California coast.
What is a teleconnection pattern?
A sudden and unpredictable change in weather conditions
A pattern of weather that only occurs during the day
A small-scale weather pattern within a single region
A large-scale weather pattern that connects distant regions
What does ENSO stand for?
El Nino Seasonal Occurrences
El Nino Sea Observations
El Nino Systematic Organization
El Nino Southern Oscillation
During an El Niño event, what happens in the eastern Pacific?
No change in ocean temperatures
Warmer than usual ocean temperatures
Increased rainfall in the region
Colder than usual ocean temperatures
During a La Niña event, what happens in the eastern Pacific?
Increase in rainfall in the region
Cooler-than-average sea surface temperatures
No change in sea surface temperatures
Warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures
What is upwelling?
The movement of cold, nutrient-poor water to the surface
The movement of cold, nutrient-rich water to the surface
The movement of warm, nutrient-rich water to the surface
The movement of warm, nutrient-poor water to the surface
What causes upwelling?
Gravity pulls cold water to the surface
The wind blows surface water away from the coast
The tides push cold water to the surface
The wind blows surface water towards the coast
What effect does upwelling have on marine life?
It causes the extinction of marine organisms
It has no effect on marine life
It promotes high biological productivity due to nutrient availability
It decreases biological productivity due to nutrient depletion
What is a characteristic of the eastern Pacific during an El Niño event?
Decreased sea surface temperature
Reduced upwelling of cold, nutrient-rich water
Increased upwelling of cold, nutrient-rich water
No change in upwelling of water
What effect does an El Niño event have on the eastern Pacific?
Increased productivity of marine life
No change in productivity of marine life
Warmer sea surface temperatures
Decreased productivity of marine life
What typically occurs in the eastern Pacific during La Niña?
Increased upwelling of cold nutrient-rich water
Upwelling of warm nutrient-rich water
No change in upwelling of cold nutrient-rich water