El Niño is a band of anomalously warm ocean water temperatures that periodically develops off the western coast of South America and can cause climatic changes across the Pacific Ocean. Find out how simple changes in ocean currents can lead to catastrophic weather conditions.

El Niño is a band of anomalously warm ocean water temperatures that periodically develops off the western coast of South America and can cause climatic changes across the Pacific Ocean. There is a phase of ‘El Niño–Southern Oscillation’ (ENSO), which refers to variations in the temperature of the surface of the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean (El Niño and La Niña) and in air surface pressure in the tropical western Pacific.

Arctic Sea Ice Forum: 2014 El Nino? We may be on the way to a major El Nino event.

Wunderground: An El Niño Coming in 2014? We are seeing increasing evidence of an upcoming change in the Pacific Ocean base state that favors the development of a moderate-to-strong El Niño event this Spring/Summer.

Jim Hansen: There is substantial likelihood of an El Niño beginning in 2014, and as a result a probable record global temperature in 2014 or 2015.

ClimateCentral: The strongest El Nino ever recorded occurred in 1997-98. It led to heavy rains across the southern U.S., landslides in Peru, wildfires in Indonesia, and the cratering of the anchovy fishery in the eastern Pacific. These and other impacts were responsible an estimated $35-45 billion in damage and 23,000 deaths worldwide.

Related

• Wikipedia: El Nino
• Climate Change Could Double Likelihood of Super El Ninos
• RealClimate Going with the wind
• Global Warming Speed Bump? The Answer May Be Blowing in the Wind!

Teaser image via Climate.gov.