Warmer surface waters in the eastern Pacific drive away cold-water fish that are the backbone of the fishing industry in much of Latin America. For instance, an area of warmer water in the northern Pacific that became known as “the blob” during the 2014-2016 El Niño event wasn’t there during the 1997 El Niño.īut during typical El Niño years, more rain falls in the southwestern and southeastern United States, while the North experiences much drier and warmer weather.Īnd weather isn’t the only thing El Niño affects. Like snowflakes, no two El Niños are exactly alike. It can affect US rainfall – and Pacific fish This happened during the 2015 hurricane season, with the Pacific breaking records while the Atlantic seeing a relatively quiet year. The warmer the Pacific is, the more hurricanes or typhoons it gets – while fewer hurricanes form in Atlantic Ocean because increased upper-level winds prevent them from developing. The atmosphere, however, is something of a zero-sum game: More rain in North and South America falls at the expense of normally rainy southern Asia and Australia, which in turn can experience droughts.Įl Niño has been known to cause intense flooding across eastern sections of Africa – leading to landslides, an increase in waterborne diseases and even food shortages – while northern and southern parts of the continent experience severe drought.Ī strong El Niño also influences cyclone seasons around the planet. It can especially affect the jet stream – a narrow band of strong wind in the upper atmosphere – over the Pacific, which gets stronger and dumps more frequent and intense storms over the western US, especially California, and along South America’s west coast. During the last major El Niño event in October 2015, above-average sea surface temperatures were found in places shown in orange and red.Įl Niño offers a global study in oppositesĪ strong El Niño heats up the atmosphere and changes circulation patterns around the globe.
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