El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events are an unusual warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean that occurs irregularly at about 3–6 year intervals in response to large scale weakening of the trade winds that normally blow westward from South America toward Asia.
Normally, the trade winds produce cool surface water in the eastern Pacific, through evaporation and the upwelling of colder water from below the surface. Simultaneously, they corral warm surface waters in the far western Pacific. As the trade winds weaken, so does the containment of the warm water in the west and the maintenance of the coolness in the east. As a result, relatively warm water becomes ubiquitous all across the Pacific from New Guinea to South America.
- ENSO events can impact marine organisms quite drastically. Research how ENSO events impact marine organisms, choose one example of this, and post the details of your findings.
- Have you experienced an ENSO event? If yes, please share your thoughts. If no, please research the experience of those who have been through such an event using credible sources on the web such as El Niño Related Research from NOAA Fisheries and others.
Reference
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). (n.d.). El Niño related research from NOAA fisheries. Retrieved from http://www.elnino.noaa.gov/enso3.html
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