El Nino and La Nino

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Introduction.

El Niño and La Niña are opposite phases of what is known as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle. The ENSO cycle is a scientific term that gives the detailed account of the variations in temperature between the ocean and atmosphere in the east-central Equatorial Pacific (approximately between the International Date Line and 120 degrees West). La Niña is sometimes referred to as the cold phase of ENSO and El Niño as the warm phase of ENSO. These deviations from normal surface temperatures can have large-scale impacts not only on ocean processes, but also on global weather and climate (What are El Niño and La Niña, 2016).

The term El Niño means different things to different people. In the Spanish, El Niño means small boy or child. To Peruvians, it means a particular warm ocean current that moves southward along their coast every few years or so. El Niño was originally recognized by fishermen off the coast of South America in the 1600s, with the appearance of unusually warm water in the Pacific Ocean. The name was chosen based on the time of year (around December) during which these warm waters events tended to occur.

La Niña means The Little Girl in Spanish. La Niña is also sometimes called El Viejo, anti-El Niño, or simply "a cold event." La Niña episodes represent periods of below-average sea surface temperatures across the east-central Equatorial Pacific. Global climate La Niña impacts tend to be opposite those of El Niño impacts. In the tropics, ocean temperature variations in La Niña also tend to be opposite those of El Niño. During a La Niña year, winter temperatures are warmer than normal in the Southeast and cooler than normal in the Northwest (What are El Niño and La Niña?, 2016).

What are El Niño and La Nina?

El Niño and La Niña are complex weather patterns resulting from variations in ocean temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific. El Niño and La Niña events are a natural part of the global climate system. They...