Hi maestria,
Thank you for a very interesting question.
El Niņo, which in Spanish means "The Christ Child," was named by South
American fishermen who noticed this phenomenon occurs around Christmas
time.
El Niņo
http://topex-www.jpl.nasa.gov/science/el-nino.html
"El Niņo was named by people who fish off the western coast of central
America to refer to the warm current that invades their coastal waters
around Christmastime. El Niņo events disrupt fisheries and bring
severe weather events worldwide.
In a normal year, the trade winds blow westward and push warm surface
water near Australia and New Guinea. When warm water builds up in the
western Pacific Ocean, nutrient-rich cold water comes up off the west
coast of South America and fosters the growth of the fish population.
During an El Niņo event, the trade winds weaken and warm,
nutrient-poor water occupies the entire tropical Pacific Ocean. Heavy
rains that are tied to the warm water move into the central Pacific
Ocean and cause drought in Indonesia and Australia. This also alters
the path of the atmospheric jet stream over North and South America.
The effects of El Niņo disrupt normal winter conditions throughout the
Pacific Ocean, and can persist into May or June. Reliable predictions
of an El Niņo occurrence will lead to better preparation for its
widespread impact."
*****
SCIENCE - Latest Jason-1 Data (Tracking El Niņo LATEST IMAGES - 10/31/2004)
http://topex-www.jpl.nasa.gov/science/jason1-quick-look/index.html
See latest images from the Jason satellite. Jason-1 continues
providing the uninterrupted time-series that originated with
TOPEX/Poseidon. Jason is currently flying in tandem with
TOPEX/Poseidon, using radar altimetry to collect sea surface height
data of all the world's oceans.
=========
http://www.coaps.fsu.edu/lib/elninolinks/
"El Niņo refers to a massive warming off the coastal waters of Peru
and Ecuador and the Southern Oscillation to the related atmospheric
component of this phenomenon, often abbreviated as ENSO. The ocean
warming covers a band from 10 degrees N to 10 degrees S and extends
more than 90 degrees of longitude. Typically, the warming starts late
in the boreal spring or summer and builds to a peak at the end of the
year, with the event usually over by the following summer. It is a
quasi-periodic phenomenon with global consequences in the form of
flooding, droughts, and other phenomena."
=========
El Niņo - When the Pacific Ocean Speaks, Earth Listens
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/earth/ocean_motion/el_nino_index.cfm
"The currents that power the ocean fluctuate from year to year, and
these variations influence the atmosphere. One of the most famous and
powerful of these ocean-atmosphere interactions is El Niņo, the
unusually warm current that invades South and Central American coastal
waters at the end of some years. This unexpected warm water causes
changes in fish populations, rainfall and weather across North and
South America."
========
What is an El Niņo?
http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tao/elnino/el-nino-story.html
(see article, charts and graphs)
=========
Not So Frequently Asked Questions about El Niņo
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elnino/resources/elninofaq.html
=========
Anatomy of El Niņo
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elnino/anatomy/
=========
Best regards,
tlspiegel |
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