El Nino :: essays papers

El NinoThis morning, before writing this essay, I spent a considerableamount of measure watering my wilting garden. Meanwhile, the New YorkYankees have been rained out for their third consecutive game. And outin California? Rain, no rain, rain, no rain... Why are we despicablesuch severe weather this summer? In case you have not heard, we areexperiencing a weather phenomenon called El Nino.What is El Nino, and How Long pass on This Last? According to MichaelMcPhaden, director of the Tropical Atmosphere Ocean Array, an El Ninois born when west-blowing Pacific trade winds relax or reverse. Withoutthe wind at its back, brine that typically piles up on the jaggedwestern edge of the Pacific -- around Indonesia, the Philippines andAustralia -- slides back toward the Americas. The sliding water movesin what scientists call one thousand waves. It pushes the cold water down.That causes the initial warming, said McPhaden. At the same time, thePacific reacts to the lost wind by building another series of wavesunder water. Called , they surcharge west toward Indonesia, the Philippinesand Australia. Eventually, the series of waves strikes the coasts ofthose countries. Then, it reverses and heads back toward South America,traveling along the equator. As it passes, McPhaden said, it leavescold water closer to the surface.El Nino normally occurs around Christmas and usually make it for a fewweeks to a few months. Sometimes an extremely warm event can developthat last for much longer time periods. A strong El Nino developed in1991 and lasted until 1995. We are apparently experiencing one of thesestronger El Ninos, as this one has lasted for nearly six months . Buthow long depart this last? And then what?The Onset of La Nina After an El Nino event, weather conditions usuallyreturn to normal. However, in some years the trade winds can engenderextremely strong and an abnormal accumulation of cold water can occurin the central and eastern Pacific. This event is called La Nina. WhereEl Nino refers to a body of unusually warm water astride the equator bySouth America, La Nina describes a sea thats abnormally cool. Twoindependent computer models that reckon El Nino see on the horizon apronounced cooling of the same area of the Pacific. Sometimes, the coldwater is just enough to return ocean temperatures to normal. Notalways. Sometimes, it overshoots, McPhaden said. That would bring aLa Nina after El Nino.The models say . . . there will be a cold effect sometime nigh year --