Definition of El Niño

The weather of planet Earth is subject to change and some climatic phenomena have devastating consequences. One of the most virulent phenomena is known as El Niño, which must be contextualized within the climate change that affects the Earth.

When did this phenomenon begin to be detected and why is it called that?

Between April 1997 and May 1998 a whole series of strange climatic phenomena took place, as if nature was subjected to chaos (intense rains and long periods of drought that caused destruction in different enclaves of the planet). The scientists attributed these changes to a strange behavior of nature, which occurred during the Christmas period and for this reason It is called El Niño (the word written with a capital letter was used because at Christmas the birth of Jesus is commemorated, El Niño Jesús).

The first signs

The first alarm signals occurred more than a hundred years ago on the coast of Peru, since it was observed that the waters Normally cold they were heated and this had consequences (economic ruin for fishermen and heavy rains in areas desert). Scientists initially thought that El NIño was a phenomenon that exclusively affected Peru. However, it was later observed that there were apparently inexplicable climatic changes in India as well.

Over time, the scientific community came to the conclusion that there was some pattern in nature that caused these strange weather phenomena. Based on this idea, the climatic records of the planet as a whole began to be studied and compared.

These data were statistically processed and finally it was possible to observe a certain pattern related to the atmospheric pressure (the increase in atmospheric pressure by a territory had a correlation with the decrease in pressure in very remote territories). On the other hand, it was determined that these oscillations occurred periodically and regularly. Thus, the relationship between the different climates of the Earth was the scientific basis to explain the El Niño phenomenon.

What is El Niño?

Trade winds occur from east to west. These winds push the warm water off the South American coasts and this water is replaced by cold water that is pushed from the ocean floor. These changes produce a temperature difference in the Ocean Peaceful. This regularity of the weather is within normality, but when the trade winds lose their velocity natural circulation system air it is interrupted and the intense rains characteristic of El Niño are generated.

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