Tuesday, December 4, 2007

El Niño-Southern Oscillation (25 Years Ago)

It was 25 years ago, December 4th, 1982 that Yvonne and I took our vows as Claude Loney officiated the ceremony at Grace Bible Chapel, Parkhill, Ontario, Canada. It was the first 'up close encounter' we had with the El Nino effect as outside temperature reached 20 degrees C/68 degree F.

Here is a picture of our family at our celebration this past summer.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a global coupled ocean-atmosphere phenomenon. The Pacific ocean signatures, El Niño and La Niña are important temperature fluctuations in surface waters of the tropical Eastern Pacific Ocean. The name El Niño, from the Spanish for "the little boy", refers to the Christ child, because the phenomenon is usually noticed around Christmas time in the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of South America.[1] La Niña, similarly, means "the little girl".[2] Their effect on climate in the southern hemisphere is profound. These effects were first described in 1923 by Sir Gilbert Thomas Walker from whom the Walker circulation, an important aspect of the Pacific ENSO phenomenon, takes its name. The atmospheric signature, the Southern Oscillation (SO) reflects the monthly or seasonal fluctuations in the air pressure difference between Tahiti and Darwin. The most recent occurrence of El Niño started in September 2006[3] and lasted until early 2007.[4]. From June 2007 on, data indicated a weak La Niña event.

ENSO is a set of specific interacting parts of a single global system of coupled ocean-atmosphere climate fluctuations that come about as a consequence of oceanic and atmospheric circulation. ENSO is the most prominent known source of inter-annual variability in weather and climate around the world (~3 to 8 years), though not all areas are affected. ENSO has signatures in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans. El Niño causes weather patterns involving increased rain in specific places but not in others. This is one of many causes for drought.

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Neil & Yvonne,

Belated congratulation on your 25th. Where has the time gone?

God bless you both.

Bruce & Dianne