How does El Niño affect trade winds?
During El Niño, trade winds weaken. 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.
How does El Niño affect the Caribbean?
Climate impacts of El Niño Phenomenon in Latin America and the Caribbean. In Central America, El Niño leads to excessive rainfall along the Caribbean coasts, while the Pacific coasts will remain dry. Rainfall increases on the coasts of Ecuador, the northern part of Peru, and southern zones of Chile.
Do trade winds increase during El Niño?
El Niño Events: results from weakening easterly trade winds. The easterly trade winds are driven by a surface pressure pattern of higher pressure in the eastern Pacific and lower pressure in the west. The weakened trade winds allow warmer water from the western Pacific to surge eastward, so the sea level flattens out.
What are 3 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 Nino affect air pressure?
The Southern Oscillation is a change in air pressure over the tropical Pacific Ocean. When coastal waters become warmer in the eastern tropical Pacific (El Niño), the atmospheric pressure above the ocean decreases.
How do El Niño and La Niña affect the weather?
During El Niño, surface water in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean is unusually warm. La Niña usually impacts U.S. weather by bringing cooler weather to the northwest and warmer weather to the southeast, though just like El Niño, not every La Niña event affects U.S. weather identically.
How does El Niño affect Brazil?
In Brazil, weather-related effects associated to El Niño and La Niña vary considerably across regions. During the El Niño phase, there is a reduction in precipitation in the North and Northeast regions, while the South region faces a higher frequency of heavy rains.
How does El Niño affect South America give 2 examples?
El Niño has been brewing in the Pacific since May 2015, affecting Latin American countries severely. Its more notable consequences include droughts, affecting Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico and Central America, strong rainfall in Argentina, Northern Peru and Southern Chile and the increase of wildfires in areas of Brazil.
What causes stronger trade winds?
Near the equator, the sun heats the sea surface, causing the warm air at the surface to rise and be replaced by the trade winds blowing from subtropical high pressure systems into equatorial low-pressure troughs. The trade winds blow steadily for days and are among the most consistent on earth.
Where are the trade winds?
The trade winds can be found about 30 degrees north and south of the equator. Right at the equator there is almost no wind at all—an area sometimes called the doldrums.
What are the global effects of El Niño?
During an El Niño event, sea surface temperatures across the Pacific can warm by 1–3°F or more for anything between a few months to two years. El Niño impacts weather systems around the globe, triggering predictable disruptions in temperature, rainfall and winds.
What are the different effects of El Niño and La Niña?
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.