26. Why would warmer water produce a sea-level height anomaly?
27. Considering the above figures, are there any signs of an El Niño event in the inferred SSTs in March of 1997?
28. As the El Niño event developed in October of 1997, what happened to the SSTs in the western Equatorial Pacific?
To investigate some of the causes and effects of El Niño, it is useful to get a 2-dimensional view of the oceans by looking at temperature-depth profiles in the equatorial Pacific.
These two diagrams show the development of the 1997-98 El Niño event.
29. What are the axes on the upper diagrams?
30. What are the axes on the lower diagrams?
31. What is the difference between the upper and lower diagrams?
32. Where within the oceans are the largest temperature anomalies during October of this particular El Niño event? Is it on the surface or lower?
These set of diagrams show the situation in 1999, a more “normal” year.
33. Are there any major anomalies anywhere? If so, where?
34. What do these results imply about upwelling during El Niño events?
Historical Records of El Niño Events
This diagram shows a historical record of ocean temperatures from Peru, where El Niño was first named.
Remember that upwelling refers to deep, cold water rising closer to the surface.
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