El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a coupled ocean–atmosphere phenomenon in the tropical Pacific characterized by quasi-periodic fluctuations between warm (El Niño), cold (La Niña), and neutral phases. It arises from interactions among equatorial Pacific sea-surface temperatures, trade winds, and the Walker circulation, producing large-scale anomalies in convection, thermocline depth, and surface pressure, notably the Southern Oscillation index. ENSO modulates global atmospheric circulation, altering precipitation, temperature, and storm tracks on interannual timescales, and serves as a key source of seasonal-to-interannual climate variability and predictability in climate diagnostics and modeling.
Frightening headlines predicting a Super El Niño or even a Godzilla El Niño amp up anxiety levels for farmers and residents of bushfire-prone regions.
Environment
Apr 11, 2026
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A new Earthset image has been captured by the crew of Artemis II, 58 years since the iconic Earthrise photograph taken by the crew of Apollo 8. Over these past six decades, the climate has changed dramatically.
Environment
Apr 7, 2026
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The Miocene, beginning approximately 23 million years ago, represents a canonical "warm-Earth" interval characterized by elevated atmospheric CO2 and a warmer global climate. The El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), as a ...
Earth Sciences
Mar 13, 2026
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The warming El Niño weather phenomenon could return later this year as its cooling opposite La Niña fades away, the United Nations said Tuesday.
Environment
Mar 3, 2026
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The warming El Niño weather phenomenon could form later this year, potentially pushing global temperatures to record heights.
Environment
Mar 2, 2026
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Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN), in collaboration with international partners, have shown that ocean temperature patterns help limit the global spread of droughts. Published in Communications ...
Environment
Feb 23, 2026
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Each year, the world's leading climate scientists evaluate the most critical evidence on how our planet is changing. Their assessments draw heavily on data from Earth-observing satellites—and the latest report delivers a ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 19, 2026
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Cattle auctions aren't often all-night affairs. But in Texas Lake Country in June 2022, ranchers facing dwindling water supplies and dried out pastures amid a worsening drought sold off more than 4,000 animals in an auction ...
Environment
Feb 15, 2026
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Scientists at the University of Southampton have uncovered evidence from ancient rocks that Earth's climate continued to fluctuate during its most extreme ice age—known as Snowball Earth. During the Cryogenian Period, between ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 5, 2026
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Some tropical land regions may warm more dramatically than previously predicted, as climate change progresses, according to a new CU Boulder study that looks millions of years into Earth's past. Using lake sediments from ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 2, 2026
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