El NinoWe live on an incredibly large planet. Even larger than the size of the planet is the amount of changes and relationships between humans, animals, the environment, weather, and the effects of each. Many times, with busy schedules and modern lifestyles, we forget the interaction that occurs between any number of concepts or ideas. We fail to realize that a specific weather event in the Pacific Ocean can have an effect on daily life in the United States. El Nino is one of the largest scientific phenomena that scientists have ever explored. The main concepts of El Nino are very simple and there are many variations, causes, effects and relationships to study. The main idea behind El Nino is that the wind changes direction across the Pacific Ocean. In a non-El Nino (normal) year, trade winds blow east to west across the ocean, from North and South America to the tropical regions of the Pacific Ocean. In an El Nino year, the trade winds change direction and blow from Asia and the tropical Pacific towards North and South America (NOAA B, 2004). Changes in these winds, commonly called meridional oscillation winds because most of the activity occurs in the southern parts of the Pacific, produce many other changes. Ultimately, winds are the root of this pattern. John Daly (2004) discussed how winds produce large changes in ocean water temperature. This is the second main concept of El Nino. In normal years, when the wind blows from east to west, the temperature at the “sea surface” is about 8 degrees cooler in the west than in the east. During the Nino, the winds push a certain amount of water westward, accumulating it and making it about half a meter deeper. Because of the loss of water on both coasts, deeper ocean water rises to replace what has disappeared. Deeper/colder water is the source of much income in North and South America; however, during the El Nino year, warmer water is found on the surface of the ocean, which creates many tribulations related to both income and climate. The last main point of El Nino is the weather that follows due to changes in water temperature. Precipitation follows the warmer water, no matter which direction it flows. During normal wind patterns, precipitation in the South Pacific islands is consistent and creates their tropical identity. Whe...... half of the document ......lnino/history.asp.National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Washington DC Last updated April 22, 2004. http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tao/elnino/el-nino-story.html. (A) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Washington DC Last updated April 22, 2004. http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tao/elnino/faq.html#what. (B) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Washington DC Last updated April 22, 2004. http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tao/elnino/impacts.html. (C)Redmond, Kelly. “El Nino, La Nina and the Western United States, Alaska and Hawaii.” June 16, 1998. http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/enso/ensofaq.html.United States Geological Survey (USGS). “California Flood of 1998.” From the press release. February 3, 1998, http://ca.water.usgs.gov/archive/floods/flood98/.University of Illinois, Champaign Illinois. Last updated April 2000. http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/eln/rcnt.rxml.USA Today, by the Associated Press. “El Nino found to influence Antarctic sea ice.” 2004. http://www.usatoday.com/news/science/cold-science/2002-03-06-nino-ice.htm.Williams, Jack. United States today. “Scientists gather information on El Nino impact in Antarctica.” January 8, 2003.