El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a global coupled ocean-atmosphere phenomenon. The Pacific ocean signatures, El Niño and La Niña (also written in English as El Nino and La Nina) are major temperature fluctuations in surface waters of the tropical Eastern Pacific Ocean. The names, from the Spanish for "the child", refer to the Christ child, because the phenomenon is usually noticed around Christmas time in the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of South America[1]. Their effect on climate in the southern hemisphere is profound. These effects were first described in 1923 by Sir Gilbert Thomas Walker from whom the Walker circulation, an important aspect of the Pacific ENSO phenomenon, takes its name. The atmospheric signature, the Southern Oscillation (SO) reflects the monthly or seasonal fluctuations in the air pressure difference between Tahiti and Darwin. As of September 2006, El Niño is currently active, and is expected to continue into 2007.[2]
ENSO is a set of interacting parts of a single global system of coupled ocean-atmosphere climate fluctuations that come about as a consequence of oceanic and atmospheric circulation. ENSO is the most prominent known source of inter-annual variability in weather and climate around the world (~3 to 8 years), though not all areas are affected. ENSO has signatures in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans.
In the Pacific, during major warm events El Niño warming extends over much of the tropical Pacific and becomes clearly linked to the SO intensity. While ENSO events are basically in phase between the Pacific and Indian Oceans, ENSO events in the Atlantic Ocean lag behind those in the Pacific by 12 to 18 months. Many of the countries most affected by ENSO events are developing countries within main continents (South America, Africa...), with economies that are largely dependent upon their agricultural and fishery sectors as a major source of food supply, employment, and foreign exchange. New capabilities to predict the onset of ENSO events in the three oceans can have global socio-economical impacts. While ENSO is a global and natural part of the Earth's climate, whether its intensity or frequency may change as a result of global warming is an important concern. Low-frequency variability has been evidenced. Inter-decadal modulation of ENSO might exist
2007-01-10 05:11:00
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answer #1
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answered by Anonymous
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It's Spanish. It means "the nino".
2007-01-10 05:07:09
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answer #2
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answered by acafrao341 5
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In Eglisk It Means The Kid It Was A Hurrricane
2007-01-12 14:30:45
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answer #3
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answered by Jon Civil 2
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el nino is a wind wave.
2007-01-10 20:37:23
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answer #4
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answered by Anonymous
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El Niño is a movement of warm water into the tropical Pacific.
El Niño and La Niña are officially defined as sustained sea surface temperature anomalies of magnitude greater than 0.5°C across the central tropical Pacific Ocean. El Niño is associated with a positive anomaly, and La Niña with a negative anomaly. When the condition is met for a period of less than five months, it is classified as El Niño or La Niña conditions; if the anomaly persists for five months or longer, it is classified as an El Niño or La Niña episode. Historically, it has occurred at irregular intervals of 2-7 years and has usually lasted one or two years.
Because El Niño's warm pool feeds thunderstorms above, it creates increased rainfall across the east-central and eastern Pacific Ocean.
In South America, the effects of El Niño are direct and stronger than in North America. An El Niño is associated with warm and very wet summers (December-February) along the coasts of northern Peru and Ecuador, causing major flooding whenever the event is strong or extreme. The effects during the months of February, March and April may become critical. Southern Brazil and northern Argentina also experience wetter than normal conditions but mainly during the spring and early summer. Central Chile receives a mild winter with large rainfall, and the Peruvian-Bolivian Altiplano is sometimes exposed to unusual winter snowfall events. Drier and hotter weather occurs in parts of the Amazon River Basin, Colombia and Central America.
Direct effects of El Niño resulting in drier conditions occur in Indonesia, increasing forest fires, in the Philippines, and northern Australia. Drier than normal conditions are also generally observed in Queensland, inland Victoria, inland New South Wales and eastern Tasmania during June-August.
West of the Antarctic Peninsula, the Ross, Bellingshausen, and Amundsen Sea sectors have more sea ice during El Niño. The latter two and the Weddell Sea also become warmer and have higher atmospheric pressure.
In North America, typically, winters are warmer than normal in the upper Midwest states and Canada, while central and southern California, northwest Mexico and the southeastern U.S., are wetter than normal. Summer is wetter in the intermountain regions of the U.S. The Pacific Northwest states, on the other hand, tend to be drier during an El Niño. During a La Niña, by contrast, the Midwestern U.S. tends to be drier than normal. El Niño is also associated with decreased hurricane activity in the Atlantic.
Finally, East Africa, including Kenya, Tanzania and the White Nile basin, experiences in the long rains from March to May wetter than normal conditions. There also are drier than normal conditions from December to February in south-central Africa, mainly in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Botswana.
2007-01-10 05:12:18
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answer #5
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answered by Carolina 4
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Spanish means "the boy"
but a certain rain or storm was names like that for some reason.
2007-01-10 05:18:25
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answer #6
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answered by Anonymous
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it is in spanish it means the young boy
nina would be for a young girl
hope this helps,Husnaa
2007-01-11 14:02:48
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answer #7
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answered by Indian Volleyball Lover 2
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it means the boy in spanish
2007-01-10 05:12:13
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answer #8
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answered by Jasmeen 3
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it is the warming of the pacific ocean
2007-01-10 05:08:10
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answer #9
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answered by lily 4
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