What is El Niño?

El Niño is the short name given for El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). ENSO is a weather event that occurs every few years and is due to a reversal of ocean and wind currents in the Southern Pacific Ocean.

How does ENSO work?

Peru and Indonesia are two countries that lie on either side of the Pacific Ocean. Peru is to the East of the ocean in South America and Indonesia is an island to the west of the Pacific ocean. Normally, Indonesia is very wet while Peru is hot and dry. ENSO begins when ocean currents from the far south decrease so that there is very little cold water pushed up along side of Peru. The water in Peru gets much warmer weakening the North-East trade winds that normally blow from Peru towards Indonesia. When the trade winds weaken, the up-lifting air current that normally rises over Indonesia bringing rain shifts towards Peru. For this reason, Peru becomes very wet and Indonesia becomes suddenly much drier. The climates of the two countries change!

It doesn't stop there!

When winds and ocean currents change in one location, they blow other systems out of whack, all over the world. That is why we notice changes in our climate way up here in Canada during ENSO years.

- Why was it so hot this summer? It must have been El Niño!

- Why is it so cold this winter? It must be El Niño!

- Why didn't our National Hockey team win the gold at the Olympics? It must have been El Niño! (HA HA!)

-El Niño is blamed for a lot of things, but is it really the cause of our Climate Change?

In a sense, El Niño does feel like Climate Change. It shifts wind currents and ocean currents all over the globe causing changes in weather over a fairly long period of time (usually a few seasons). However, it seems that Climate Change may actually be a factor in causing El Niño to occur. Although El Niño has been occurring for centuries, it was an irregular event that only seemed to effect the coastal countries of the Southern Pacific Ocean. Between the end of the Second World War and 1984 (about 40 years)there were only eight El Niño events. However, in between 1991 and 1994 there were four El Niño events. To top it off, within a fifteen year period, there were two El Niño of the century events! It would seem that the frequency of El Niño events is increasing with increased Climate Change. Is there a connection or is it just a coincidence?

The History of El Niño

El Niño means "the Christ Child". This weird weather event was so called because it always occurred around Christmas Time in Peru. The effects of El Niño were at first seen only to be the cause of bad fishing seasons. This happened because the cool nutrient-rich water from the south no longer flowed. Therefore there was far less food for fish to eat. This weird weather event is occurring far more frequently today.