Advertisement
Advertisement
El Niño
[ el neen-yoh; Spanish el nee-nyaw ]
noun
- a warm ocean current of variable intensity that develops after late December along the coast of Ecuador and Peru and sometimes causes catastrophic weather conditions.
El Niño
/ ɛl ˈniːnjəʊ /
noun
- meteorol a warming of the eastern tropical Pacific occurring every few years, which alters the weather pattern of the tropics
El Niño
/ ĕŧ′ō /
- A warming of the surface water of the eastern and central Pacific Ocean, occurring every 4 to 12 years and causing unusual global weather patterns. An El Niño is said to occur when the trade winds that usually push warm surface water westward weaken, allowing the warm water to pool as far eastward as the western coast of South America. When this happens, the typical pattern of coastal upwelling that carries nutrients from the cold depths to the ocean surface is disrupted, and fish and plankton die off in large numbers. El Niño warming is associated with the atmospheric phenomenon known as the southern oscillation , and their combined effect brings heavy rain to western South American and drought to eastern Australia and Indonesia. El Niño also affects the weather in the United States, but not as predictably.
- Compare La Niña
El Niño
- A warming of the surface water of the eastern and central Pacific Ocean , occurring every four to twelve years when cold water does not rise to the surface, causing unusual weather patterns. The warmer water kills fish and plankton, brings heavy rains to western South America , and causes drought in eastern Australia and Indonesia .
51Թ History and Origins
Origin of El Niño1
51Թ History and Origins
Origin of El Niño1
Example Sentences
It is not clear what caused the deaths - the El Niño weather phenomenon and climate change may be factors.
January 2025 had been expected to be slightly cooler than January 2024 because of a shift away from a natural weather pattern in the Pacific known as El Niño.
Writing for Discover Magazine, Tom Yulsman points out that scientists expected this January to be cooler than preceding Januaries because of the ocean current cycles like El Niño and La Niña.
Excessive rainfall throttled harvests in Brazil, while unusually warm temperatures compounding with the lasting effects from El Niño led to what could be Peru's worst season in history.
There were also the effects of the natural El Niño phenomenon - where surface waters in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean become unusually warm, affecting weather patterns.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Browse