EL NINO SOUTHERN OSCILLATION (ENSO) WEB QUEST
Instructions: Print your name on the TOP RIGHT OF EACH PAGE
1) Print the entire web quest and write as you uncover information while navigating.
2) Keep this file open on your computer while working so you can go to the links. Highlight the link, point the cursor, then press control and left click (with the mouse)
EL NINO BASICS
http://library.thinkquest.org/18424/basics.html
Define El Nino
Coriolis Effect
What is the Coriolis Effect?
Click on “trade winds” and study the diagram
In the circle design, color and label the wind belts of the Earth.
How does the Sun combined with the Coriolis Effect
cause the trade winds?
In the rectangle below, neatly sketch the diagram which shows how upwelling occurs along the western coast of South America during non El Nino (normal) years.
Western Pacific Eastern Pacific
(Indonesia, Phillipines , Australia) Ecuador, Peru, Chile
The trade winds blow westward across the South equatorial Pacific during non El Nino years. There are also strong cold currents that originate in the South Polar area. These currents flow north along the coast line of Chile, Peru and Ecuador and help bring about upwelling.
How does the surface water temperature compare between the Western Pacific and Eastern Pacific during non-El Nino times?
What happens to the sea level in the Pacific during non-El Nino times?
What happens in the Pacific during an El Nino?
University of Illinois Meteorology - El Nino pages
http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/eln/home.rxml
What happens to the surface water and the trade winds at the onset of an El Nino event? (answer found in “definition” link)
How are marine and plant life effected by an El Nino? Explain this in terms of changes to upwelling and the thermocline (answer found in “economic impacts” link)
Describe the observed equatorial Pacific sea surface temperature anomaly (deviation from normal) during the intense 1997-1998 El Nino event. (answer can be found in “definition” link – click on 1997-1998)
What effects have past El Nino events had on the weather around the world? (answers can be found on “Impacts on weather” link)
Describe the process of upwelling (answer can be found in “upwelling” link)
Neatly sketch and label the diagram of a thermocline (check out “upwelling” link)
What is a thermocline?
How does the depth of the thermocline affect the fishing economy of coastal Peru? (same link – at bottom of page)
Describe the sea surface temperature range of the equatorial Pacific during “normal” non-El Nino years. How do these numbers correspond with the depth of the thermocline in Indonesia and off the coast of Peru? (answer can be found in link for “non- el nino years)
During “normal” (non El Nino) years how do the cooler waters off the coast of Peru and the warmer waters in Indonesia affect the precipitation rates? (answer can be found in the “non El Nino years” link)
At the onset of an El Nino event, the trade winds weaken. What changes occur in both coastal Peru and Indonesia? (answer can be found in “el nino events” link)
Give an example of unusual weather caused by El Nino? (answer can be found in the “el nino events” link)
Describe the observed equatorial Pacific sea surface temperature anomaly (deviation from normal) during the historic 1997-1998 El Nino event. (check out the July 1982 – June 1983 animation)
Describe the pattern of upper level isobars across the U.S during the El Nino winter 82-83. How do they compare with isobars during a “normal” winter? (answer can be found on “atmospheric consequences of el nino.”)
What are the economic consequences of El Nino in the eastern Pacific? (“el nino events” click on “sustaining the large fish populations.”)
El Nino – La Nina Global Impacts
http://www.atmosphere.mpg.de/enid/5057ce0c8397e666f5a77ee2a0017790,55a304092d09/190.html
What happened in the San Fransisco Bay area during the winter of 97-98?
What happened in Paraguay during the same time?
What happened in Indonesia during that time? (scroll down to figure #6)
ENSO Impacts on U.S. (search states for precipitation and temperature data)
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/threats2/enso/elnino/index.shtml
Inspect the Rankings Maps for temperature and precipitation. Write a summary of the weather in the U.S. during El Nino periods and non-El Nino periods. (Where is it coolest and warmest, wettest and driest?)
National Climatic Data Center – Global Hazards and Extremes
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/hazards/
Select any THREE weather events or weather-related conditions since Jan. 1998 and write a description of each. Indicate the month and year, and location with your descriptions.
1.
2.
3.
Use any, some or all of the following links to write about the current conditions in the tropical Pacific and how it relates to the next El Nino event. When is it expected? What is the evidence?
Impacts of El Nino and benefits of El Nino prediction
http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tao/elnino/impacts.html#part3
List three benefits of El Nino prediction. (halfway down the page)
EXTRA CREDIT
NWS – Climate Prediction Center – Cold and Warm Episodes by Season
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/ensostuff/ensoyears.shtml
Examine the data table and try to make sense of it.
The letters DJF, JFM. MAM, etc. (across the top) represent three consecutive months, the time periods used for this table. Notice the overlap between time periods.
What does it mean when consecutive time periods display numbers in BLUE?
What does it mean when consecutive time periods display numbers in RED?
What does it mean when consecutive time periods have no color at all?
List the 2 longest El Nino periods since 1950 (from when to when for each)
1.
2.
List the 2 longest La Nina periods since 1950 (from when to when for each)
1.
2.
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