ENVS 1126 Lecture : OCS 1005 Lecture 14
Document Summary
El nino is very interesting: the 1st clear example of large-scale ocean-atmosphere interaction. Due to the large-scale ocean-atmospheric interaction in the pacific ocean. El nino causes extreme temperature and wet/dry events. Ex: dust storm and drought in australia, stormy conditions in central south. Pacific, flood in the western usa: ocean-atmosphere interaction easterly trade wind piles up warm surface water on the western side of a basin, trade wind= wind going from east to west. Sea surface temperature in august: warmest water is always found on the western side of each ocean basin. Normal condition: normal trade wind, normal sea surface temperature: el nino (baby boy): weaker trade wind, warmer eastern pacific, la nina (baby girl): stronger trade wind, colder eastern pacific. What el nino does to heat budget for the entire planet: during el nino, warm water that had accumulated in the western equatorial. El nino in other ocean basins: yes. Similar events have been observed in the atlantic ocean.
