SolveYourProblem Article Series: Global Warming
Global Warming & Climate Change -
What Do I Need To Know?

The La Nina Phenomenon
   

You have probably heard of the El Nino weather phenomenon, but what is the so-called La Nina phenomenon? The La Nina phenomenon has to do with the sea surface temperatures in the eastern and central area of the tropical Pacific Ocean. The La Nina is usually described as a cooler than average sea surface temperature in this area of the Pacific. The La Nina phenomenon is known to occur every few years in this area and beyond, and it is known to last anywhere from a few months to as long as two years or so.

Do you know the difference between the El Nino and the La Nina weather phenomena? In short, both weather names refer to conditions that characterize two extreme phases of a natural climate cycle that can be described as the El Nino or Southern Oscillation. Both the La Nina and El Nino terms refer to the large-scale shifts and changes that occur in the sea surface temperature of the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. Most of the time, sea surface temperature readings done of South America's west coast will range anywhere between 60 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit. The so-called warm pool located in the western and near central Pacific will often exceed the 80s. However, the sea surface temperatures located along the equator will usually fall by as much as seven degrees.

Maybe you are curious about how the phenomena of the La Nina and the El Nino occur. Most of the time the La Nina and the El Nino phenomena occur as a result of some kind of interaction that occurs between the atmosphere in the tropic Pacific and the surface of the ocean waters. This happens when changes in the atmosphere cause some kind of feedback change in the ocean currents and in the temperatures of the waters. When this ocean system becomes warm, we call it El Nino. When the ocean system becomes cold, it is usually referred to as the La Nina phenomenon.

But what specifically is responsible for the phenomenon of La Nina? The phenomenon of La Nina is generally caused by a cooler than average sea surface in the tropical area of the Pacific. This causes the cold water to move up to the surface of the waters when the atmosphere is moving in a generally eastward direction, as well as the oceanic waves which are also moving east. In general, the El Nino and the La Nina phenomena are built through a series of very complex movements and events which scientists still do not have a clear explanation for.

Perhaps you are wondering what kind of global impact, if any, the La Nina phenomenon might have for the world and the U.S. climate patterns? Does the La Nina have any kind of pattern that might suggest a definite, identifiable weather pattern? The only weather pattern that most scientists and climatologists have been able to identify has to do with how the La Nina tends to produce the opposite patterns that the El Nino does, which makes some sense.

In the United States, what can you expect form the weather if you hear that La Nina will be coming? La Nina tends to produce drier weather conditions than normal throughout the U.S. Southwestern states. La Nina, in general, also tends to produce drier weather conditions than normal across the central plains during the fall season, a drier southeast during the winter months. However, the Pacific Northwest tends to experience a wetter season than normal during the time of La Nina.

# # # # #

SolveYourProblem.com : 2007

> Home > Global Warming Articles : Main Page