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El Nino A warming of the ocean surface off the western coast of South America that occurs every 4 to 7 years when upwelling of cold, nutrient-rich water does not occur. It causes die-offs of plankton and fish and affects Pacific jet stream winds, altering storm tracks and creating unusual weather patterns in various parts of the world.

[American Spanish, from Spanish, the Christ child (from its onset being around Christmastide) : el, the (from Latin ille) + niño, child (from Old Spanish ninno, from Vulgar Latin *nīnnus).]

An El Nino event results from weakened trade winds in the western Pacific Ocean near Indonesia, allowing piled-up warm water to flow toward South America.

The deeper, warmer water in the east limits the amount of nutrient-rich deep water normally surfaced by the upwelling process. Since fish can no longer access this rich food source, many of them die off. This is why these conditions are called "El Nino", or "the Christ Child", which is what Peruvian fisherman call the particularly bad fishing period around December. More importantly, the different water temperatures tend to change the weather of the region.

What happens to the ocean also affects the atmosphere. Tropical thunderstorms are fueled by hot, humid air over the oceans. The hotter the air, the stronger and bigger the thunderstorms. As the Pacific's warmest water spreads eastward, the biggest thunderstorms move with it. If you look on a map, you will see that suddenly islands like Tahiti, normally tropical paradises, experience massive storms.

Currently, it is not well understood what initiates these changes, and it is likely that it is a large combination of things. The current thinking is that it has to do with oscillations such as the Madden-Julian Oscillation in the tropical Pacific, Atmospheric Angular Momentum, and frictional and mountain torque.

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What city do el nino occur in?

El Nino is a coupled ocean-atmosphere oscillation. It has effects on most cities in the world.


How could El Nino have affected the crops that ancient people grew?

the El Nino have affected the crops that ancient people grew by El Nino might have caused a flood, and the crops will have to much water and die


What effects can el nino have?

El nino is an hot water ocean current. When it changes its normal course the global climate is affected. It creates increased rainfall.


Is one of the effects of El Nino that the jet stream shifts farther north?

Possibly...


Who died in El Nino?

Do you realize what an El Nino is? Obviously not. An El Nino is a climate pattern and cannot kill people the many many many disasters an El Nino has caused can. An exact number of deaths that resulted from the El Nino climate pattern cannot be determined.


Is el nino good or bad?

El Nino is bad


Why is important to know about el nino phenomenon?

El Nino is one of the most devastating natural phenomenons known to man. It is important to learn about it in order to help people get prepared for it and possibly escape its effects.


Which weather phenomenon translate from the spanish for the little boy?

The weather phenomenon is known as El Nino.


Wis a similarities between El nino and La nina?

El Nino and La Nina have many similarities. One of these are that they are caused by changing weather patterns, another is that they are associated with temperature change in the water.


Is El Nino only a local event?

No. It has effects that affect most of the planet, but those effects vary from one region to another.


How is the Philippines affected by the El Nino?

El Nino typically brings drier and warmer conditions to the Philippines, leading to reduced rainfall, droughts, and an increased risk of wildfires. This can have negative impacts on agriculture, water resources, and food security in the country, affecting both farmers and the general population. The government often implements measures to mitigate these effects during El Nino events.


What are some of the dangers of an El Nino?

El Nino effects the weather most of all; last year, areas in the United States unaccustomed to snow got a foot or more due to the change in El Nino's current; this caused millions of dollars in damage.