1. Climate Change El-Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO)Phenomena

2. El-Nino

3. El Nino ► Christ child ► El Nino patterns are first recognized during the Christmas season. ► Complex interactions between the Earth’s  Physical  Biological  Chemical environments

4. El-Nino Geography

5. Physical conditions ► Atmosphere ► Ocean circulation pattern  Ocean surface temperatures

6. The atmosphere ► Trade winds feed into,  Walker cell  Hadley cell ► Resulting precipitation patterns

9. Equator Sea level Thermocline Upwelling Conditions Normal Conditions Walker Cell

10. The Atmosphere/Ocean connection ► Feed off one another,  Makes for a very complex story  Overhead!

11. Pacific Ocean surface currents ► Driven by atmospheric circulation ► North Equatorial (NEC) ► South Equatorial (SEC) ► North Equatorial Counter Current (NECC) ► Peru Current

12. SST, Sea surface temperatures ► Key identifier of a changing climate. ► Non El Nino years  Coastal Peru  Winter 18  C (25  C)  Coldest tropical water on Earth ► TAO array of moored buoys.

13. TAO array of moored buoys

14. Important subsurface currents ► Equatorial Undercurrent ► The Peru surface current and equatorial upwelling.

15. Upwelling along western coast of South America ► Influx of Antarctic water, August (winter). ► Brings nutrients to the surface ► Producing abundant diversity  Plankton  Anchovies  Tuna  Sea birds  Marine mammals

16. Warm moist air rises Cool dry air sinks IndonesiaSouth America

19. El Nino phenomenon leads to dramatic changes 1) Starts with: Failure of southern trade winds around December 2) Warming of the ocean off Peru 3) Decrease in bio-productivity off Peru 4) Increase in eastern Pacific rainfall 5) Decrease in western Pacific rainfall 6) Development of winds from the west

22. NOAA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

23. El-Nino History ► Approx. 5,000 years ago the cycle begins ► Recurrence interval, 2 to 7 years ► Over the past 465 years, there have been 9 severe El-Nino events. (Avg. 1 event per 50 years)

25. El-Nino Bi-products ► Flooding in South America (Peru) ► Drought/wildfires in Indonesia and Australia ► Variable effects throughout the United States.

26. Ecuador