What happens to the water during El Niño?

Water expands as it gets warmer, and the lack of cold water dependent nutrients make it less dense. This expanded, less dense water results in a rise in sea level, observable from space. Ocean surface height may rise as much as 6 to 13 inches above normal in some ocean regions during an El Niño.

What happens during an El Niño?

An El Niño condition occurs when surface water in the equatorial Pacific becomes warmer than average and east winds blow weaker than normal. The opposite condition is called La Niña. During this phase of ENSO, the water is cooler than normal and the east winds are stronger. El Niños typically occur every 3 to 5 years.

What are 4 effects of El Niño?

Severe drought and associated food insecurity, flooding, rains, and temperature rises due to El Niño are causing a wide range of health problems, including disease outbreaks, malnutrition, heat stress and respiratory diseases.

How does El Niño affect the hydrosphere?

When water is cold, it is harder for it to evaporate and therefore lead to rain fall along the coastlines near the West Pacific; it is very dry, because they have cold water. El Nino affects the hydrosphere because the water gets to be a lot warmer in the East Pacific and a lot colder in the West Pacific.

What is El Niño and how it affects the sea surface temperature?

El Niño is a climate pattern that describes the unusual warming of surface waters in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean. Trade winds and atmosphere are also impacted by El Niño. El Niño is a climate pattern that describes the unusual warming of surface waters in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.

What does El Niño cause?

El Niño causes the Pacific jet stream to move south and spread further east. During winter, this leads to wetter conditions than usual in the Southern U.S. and warmer and drier conditions in the North. El Niño also has a strong effect on marine life off the Pacific coast.

What happens because El Niño damages a coral reef?

If the water cools soon enough, the algae return. But prolonged bleaching can kill the corals—and much more. The loss of coral cover makes reefs less hospitable for many marine organisms and fish, leading to a dramatic loss of biodiversity.

What is El Niño climate change?

El Niño is a term for the warming phase of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), a cyclical weather pattern that influences temperature and rainfall across the global. It is a warming of the central to eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.

What are the effects of El Niño on the environment?

How El Nino and La Nina affect water cycle?

El Niño and La Niña affect not only ocean temperatures, but also how much it rains on land. Depending on which cycle occurs (and when), this can mean either droughts or flooding. Typically, El Niño and its warm waters are associated with drought, while La Niña is linked to increased flooding.

How do the waters of El Niño compare to the surrounding ocean?

El Nino produces a wind shear over the tropical Atlantic unlike our oceans. El Nino appears every 2-12 years, so no one can really predict , for sure, when El Nino is coming. Scientists have come up with something to help predict it. Many marine organisms depend on upwelling to bring nutrients to the surface.