The El Niño is an irregular set of climate changes affecting the Equatorial Pacific region and beyond, every few years. It causes unusually warm, nutrient-poor water off of Peru and Ecuador usually in December. Moreover, side effects include reversal of wind patterns across the Pacific, drought in Australasia, and unseasonal heavy rain in South America. The environment announced it had had enough when it unleashed the 1997-1998 El Niño on an unsuspecting world.
The Major Impacts of the 1997-1998 El Niño Globally
The 1997-1998 El Niño was one of the most powerful southern oscillation events in history. Because it caused floods, droughts, and other natural disasters across the globe. Approximately 16% of all reef systems died. The air temperature temporarily warmed by 1.5 °C. This was six times the usual El Niño increase.
Extreme rainfall in north-eastern Kenya and southern Somalia caused an outbreak of Rift Fever. California experienced record rainfalls, while Indonesia suffered one of its worst recorded extreme droughts. Elsewhere, severe mudslides wiped entire communities from the face of the earth.
The Causes and Meteorological Effects of the 1997-1998 El Niño
El Niño begins with a band of warm water collecting in the central and east-central Equatorial Pacific. It therefore follows that global warming increased its power. In January 1997, satellites detected warm water across the western half of the Pacific Ocean about 3 °C above normal.
Then the situation progressively worsened. Because by January 1998, waters off the coast of Peru reached temperatures 11 °C above average. However, the water became cooler in the Western Pacific, confirming the 1997-1998 El Niño had arrived.
The number of tropical cyclones doubled in the South Pacific. The storms were rampant across the West Pacific Basin. The number of North Pacific tropical cyclones was only exceeded during the 2014-2016 El Niño effect. Clearly, something climatic had changed.
Related
Climate Change Part 15: Ocean Conveyor Belt
Climate Change Part 2: Greenhouse Effect
Preview Image: 1997-1998 El Niño
