El Nino and La Nina. Meister
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University of Kansas *
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Course
104
Subject
Geography
Date
Dec 6, 2023
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docx
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MEISTER, DELANEY ______________________________
Name (Last, First)
Module 04, Activity 02
GEOG 104: Principles of Physical Geography
The Impact of El Niño and La Niña
Learning Objectives
This exercise is designed to illustrate how sensitive the Earth's climate system is to ocean
surface temperature. In your reading, you were introduced to a unique ocean-climate condition called El Niño & La Niña or ENSO. These conditions lead to important climatic effects all over the globe.
Background
First you need to know how El Niño/La Niña is defined. On September 30
th
, 2003, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and other researchers reached a consensus to more clearly define these events.
In the Equatorial Pacific Ocean (120W-170W, 5N-5S), “Normal” sea surface temperatures are defined as the average temperature over years 1971-2000.
El Niño exists if sea surface temperatures measured over a 3-month period are 0.5
°
warmer
than normal
.
La Niña exists if sea surface temperatures measured over a 3-month period are 0.5
°
cooler
than normal
.
Part I. What is El Niño
?
Use information you can find on the following website
http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tao/elnino/nino-home.html
to write a BRIEF summary (less than 100 words) describing wind circulation and characteristics of the Pacific Ocean during El Niño events.
El Niño also has a strong effect on marine life off the Pacific coast. During normal conditions, upwelling brings water from the depths to the surface; this water is cold and nutrient rich. During El Niño, upwelling weakens or stops altogether. Without the nutrients from the deep, there are fewer plankton off the coast. This affects fish that eat phytoplankton and, in turn, affects everything that eats fish. The warmer waters can also bring tropical species, like yellowtail and albacore tuna into areas that are normally too cold.
Review the map shown above. Summarize the impact on North American climate during the winter months (Dec-Feb) due to El Niño according to this map. How does this change
during the summer months?
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During the winter months there is a lot more precipitation located on the southern parts of North America. Compared to this map of the summer months of El Nino North America is much drier.
Using the same map, what is the impact on Australia's conditions (Dec-Feb)?
Australia has a much warmer southern region during winter El Nino. However, during the summer months the country experiences an increase in dry and cool weather in the northeast regions.
Part II. What is La Niña
?
Use information you can find on the following website
http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tao/elnino/nino-home.html
to write a BRIEF summary (less than 100 words) describing wind circulation and characteristics of the Pacific Ocean during a La Niña event.
El Nina is known as unusual cold temperatures in the equatorial pacific, unlike El Nino which has warmer temperatures in the equatorial Pacific. The unusual cold water starts in the eastern side of the pacific and spreads to westward. El Nina effects our weather in
the United States winter temperatures is warmer in the southeast and cooler in the Northwest.
Review the map shown above. What is the impact on North American climate during the
winter months (Dec-Feb) due to El Niño according to this map. How does this change during the summer months?
In the winter months there is dry and warm climates located along the northern region of Mexico and the southern region of united states. There also appears to be a cooler air
front that starts in the northwest region over states such as Washington. This changes in the summer when wet and cool climates hover over the southernmost tip of Mexico and
central America.
Using the same map, what is the impact on Australia's conditions (Dec-Feb)?
In the winter months Australia's northernmost tip experiences wet climates. In the summer a warm front heads down from that northern tip and covers the eastern coast of the country. The southernmost tip also experiences wet climates just like the northern
one does in the winter.
Part III. What are Current Conditions
?
Visit the following website to find information on the current conditions:
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/enso_advisory/
In less than 100 words, summarize recent conditions. Is an El Niño or La Niña present? This year it appears that the Pacific Ocean near the equator is warmer than usual indicating that El Nino is present. Low level winds were anomalously westerly over the western equatorial Pacific. This wind pattern is most commonly related to El Nino as the winds blow closer to South America.
Submission
Upload your completed assignment to Canvas before this Friday at 11:59 pm
.
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