El Nino and La Nina Essay Example

Nowadays, El Nino and La Nina are the two most significant incidences on the surface of the Earth. The two phenomena are characterized by having extraordinarily higher or lower ocean temperatures that have crucial repercussions on weather across the globe. These phenomena originate in the tropical Pacific that reappears every few years as part of a naturally-appearing cycle. These occurrences appear due to powerful and widespread interactions between the ocean and atmosphere. They are likened to extensive transition in the climate system that lasts many months and can result in substantial socio-economic effects impacting the ecosystem. Whereas the frequency of their occurrence may be uneven, El Nino and La Nina occurrences appear on average of two to seven years.

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El Nino refers to an unusual weather pattern as a result of warming in the Pacific Ocean. The word, 'El Nino' was coined by Peruvian fishermen who discovered the heating of the undercurrents near the coastlines of Ecuador and Peru occurring repeatedly late December and extending a few months thereafter. When the oceans became warmer, the fishermen discovered that they could catch less fish and the amount of rain increased. Currently, El Nino is termed as the extensive rise in temperature of ocean waters of the Pacific which occurs frequently every 3-6 years and lasts 9-12 months. The impacts of the phenomenon are felt on the South American costs, from Ecuador to the coast of Peru. El Nino also causes uneven weather patterns across the world. El Nino is prominent in increasing rainfall in the Southern Tier of Peru and the United States. This usually results in extreme floods, drought in the West Pacific and is in some instances linked to Australia, causing bushfires. Throughout El Nino periods, temperatures in the winter are usually hotter than the usual in the Northern Carribean States and chiller than usual in the Southwest and Southeast (Woli, Ortiz, Johnson & Hoogenboom, 2015).

La Nina is known as the cooling of water in the Pacific Ocean resulting in a drop in air pressure and a rise in precipitation levels. La Nina occurrences occasionally come after El Nino occurrences, which appear at uneven intermissions of about two to seven years. The native impacts on the weather as a result of La Nina are usually contrary to those associated with El Nino. La Nina occurs as a result of a formation of chiller-than-standard waters in the humid Pacific, the region of the Pacific Ocean between the Tropics. Extraordinarily resilient, east-moving trade winds and water waves propel this freezing water to the surface in a procedure referred to an upsurge. La Nina is categorized by lesser-than-standard atmospheric pressure over the western Pacific leading to high rainfall levels. Precipitation linked to the summer monsoon in Southeast Asia is usually larger than the usual. La Nina is categorized by greater than standard density over the South America coastline. This leads to reduced cloud generation and precipitation in that zone. In addition, drier circumstances are experienced along the west coastline of tropical South America, the pampas region of southern America and the Gulf Coast of the U.S (Clark, Nnaji & Huang, 2014).

El Nino and La Nina can cause a substantial effect and change the climate of half the Earth planet. For instance, La Nina can cause extreme rain and flooding along the Pacific Coast. The phenomenon can also disrupt the food chain of various species of animals because of the extreme weather. The El Nino and La Nina phenomena are termed as the "warm" and "cold" stages of the El Nino-Southern Oscillation. ENSO is a progression of connected weather-ocean linked occurrences. Apart from abnormally warm or calm ocean-surface temperature, ENSO is also categorized by alterations in air pressure. During the 1982-1983 El Nino, the United States experienced one of the warmest winters followed by one of the wettest springs ever. Severe levels of precipitation led to large landslides and floods in the west and the southeast was also flooded by extraordinarily heavy rains. El Nino also brings droughts in Australia, Indonesia, Mexico and Southeast Africa (Clark, Nnaji & Huang, 2014). El Nino and La Nina data are collected using National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which measures humidity, winds, currents, and sea-surface temperature.

Conclusion

Conclusively, the extreme variations in the climate trends around the globe like the El Nino and La Nina phenomena indicate how global warming is transforming the world. Generally, El Nino is experienced more regularly than La Nina. The typical transformations in weather in the United States because of El Nina entail droughts in the Southwest and flooding in the West and Southeast. La Nina causes abnormal levels of snow and rainfall on the west coast, the unusual cold climate in Alaska and varying climate conditions in the United States. It is widely known that El Nino suppresses growth while La Nina promotes the growth of hurricanes. La Nina occurrences may be experienced between twelve and 36 months while El Nino events usually last about 12 months. El Nino and La Nina usually peak during the Northern Hemisphere winter.

References

Clark, C., Nnaji, G. A., & Huang, W. (2014). Effects of el-nino and la-nina sea surface temperature anomalies on annual precipitations and streamflow discharges in southeastern united states. Journal of Coastal Research, 68(sp1), 113-120.

Woli, P., Ortiz, B. V., Johnson, J., & Hoogenboom, G. (2015). El Nino-Southern Oscillation effects on winter wheat in the southeastern United States. Agronomy Journal, 107(6), 2193-2204.