Natural climate change and variability

El Nino & La Nina

The effects of El Nino events are felt throughout the world.
During an El Nino year:

• It is wetter than usual
  • in the central tropical Pacific
  • near the coast of Peru
  • along the coast of Argentina
  • in eastern equatorial Africa
  • in the southeastern United States
• It is drier than usual
  • throughout much of the western Pacific
  • in the northern Amazon basin
  • in southern Africa
• It is warmer than usual
  • in Japan
  • along the Pacific coast in Canada and Alaska
  • in eastern Canada

To learn more about El Nino and the Southern Oscillation, check out these websites.

• NOAA El Nino Page
• El Nino, NOAA
• So What is an El Nino, Anyway?, SCRIPPS Institution of Oceanography
• Children of the Tropics: El Nino and La Nina, NCAR

Next page   -> Madden-Julian Oscillation

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