El Nino

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Term Paper Title	El Nino
# of Words	1082
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	4.33

El Nino

El Nino

     Typically, the level of ocean water around the world is higher in the
western Pacific and lower in the eastern, near the Western coast of South and
North America. This is due primarily to the presence of easterly winds in the
Pacific, which drag the surface water westward and raise the thermocline
relatively all the way up to the surface in the east and dampen it in the west.
During El Nino conditions, however, the easterlies move east, reducing the
continuing interaction between wind and sea, allowing the thermocline to become
nearly flat and to plunge several feet below the surface of the water, allowing
the water to grow warm and expand. With the help of  the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration's weather satellites, tracking shifting patterns of
sea-surface temperatures can be made easier. Normally, a "pool" of warm water in
the western Pacific waters exists. Under El Nino conditions, this "pool" drifts
southeast towards the coast of South America. This is because, in a normal year,
there is upwelling on the western South American coastline, and cold waters of
the Pacific rise and push westward.  However, during an El Nino year,  upwelling
is suppressed and as a result, the thermocline is lower than normal. Finally,
thermocline rises in the west, making upwelling easier and water colder. Air
pressures at sea level in the South Pacific seesaw back and forth between two
distinct patterns. In the high index phase, also called "Southern Oscillation",
pressure is higher near and to the east of Tahiti than farther to the west near
Darwin. The east-west pressure difference along the equator causes the surface
air to flow westward. When the atmosphere switches into the low index phase,
barometers rise in the west and fall in the east, signaling a reduction, or even
a reversal the pressure difference between Darwin and Tahiti. The flattening of
the seesaw causes the easterly surface winds to weaken and retreat eastward.
The "low index" phase is usually accompanied by El Nino conditions.
     The easterly winds along the equator and the southeasternly winds that
blow along the Peru and Ecuador coasts both tend to drag the surface water along
with them. The Earth's rotation then deflects the resulting surface currents
toward the right (northward) in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left
(southward) in the South Hemisphere. The surface waters are therefore deflected
away from the equator in both directions and away from the coastline. ...

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