Podcast
Questions and Answers
What is the connection between El Niño and the Southern Oscillation?
What is the connection between El Niño and the Southern Oscillation?
- They have no connection
- El Niño leads to the formation of the Southern Oscillation
- They are closely linked and often referred to jointly as ENSO (correct)
- They are two separate weather phenomena
What is the significance of the pressure gradient between the eastern and western Pacific during a typical year?
What is the significance of the pressure gradient between the eastern and western Pacific during a typical year?
- It has no impact on the ocean currents
- It weakens the trade winds
- It causes a cold surface current in the equatorial waters
- It enhances the trade winds and results in a warm surface current moving east to west at the equator (correct)
What happens to sea-surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific when an El Niño event occurs?
What happens to sea-surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific when an El Niño event occurs?
- They remain constant
- They show no significant change
- They decrease
- They increase due to warm water flowing eastward from the western Pacific (correct)
How do scientists typically document past El Niño events?
How do scientists typically document past El Niño events?
What has been observed about the frequency of El Niño events over time?
What has been observed about the frequency of El Niño events over time?
What causes the nutrient-rich cold water along the coasts of Ecuador and Peru to rise from deeper depths to more shallow ones?
What causes the nutrient-rich cold water along the coasts of Ecuador and Peru to rise from deeper depths to more shallow ones?
Why is fishing, especially for anchovies, a major industry along the coasts of Ecuador and Peru?
Why is fishing, especially for anchovies, a major industry along the coasts of Ecuador and Peru?
Why does fishing come to a standstill during the weak, warm countercurrent period in December and January?
Why does fishing come to a standstill during the weak, warm countercurrent period in December and January?
Why do the residents of the region refer to the warm-water countercurrent period as El Niño?
Why do the residents of the region refer to the warm-water countercurrent period as El Niño?
What has the term El Niño come to be used for over the last few decades?
What has the term El Niño come to be used for over the last few decades?
