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.
A new study has made a counterintuitive discovery about how El Niño affects India's summer monsoon. Instead of reducing rainfall overall and causing widespread droughts, the periodic climatic phenomenon increases rainfall ...
Australia's changing climate is shaking things up, literally. New research from the University of South Australia (UniSA) warns that increasingly intense La Niña weather cycles are posing fresh challenges for homeowners, ...
Environment
Sep 11, 2025
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El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the strongest interannual variability signal in Earth's climate system. The shifts between its warm and cold phases profoundly impact global extreme weather, ecosystems, and economic ...
Earth Sciences
Sep 4, 2025
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Earth's climate is a dynamic system of interconnected physical processes and events occurring around the globe. Many of these processes are coupled so that changes in one event or process in one geographical area will result ...
Earth Sciences
Aug 19, 2025
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Arthropods, including insects and spiders, make up the vast majority of animal species on the planet.
Plants & Animals
Aug 6, 2025
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The butterfly effect suggests that small changes in a system can have a large impact on eventual outcomes. One metaphor used to illustrate this concept is a butterfly flapping its wings only to cause a hurricane across the ...
Earth Sciences
May 28, 2025
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A Monash University-led study is prompting scientists to rethink how the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) system evolved and how it might behave in the future as our climate continues to change.
Earth Sciences
May 26, 2025
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The El Niño phenomenon in the South Atlantic and Benguela current, which flows along the west coast of southern Africa, have a significant impact on the tropical Atlantic region, leading to extensive effects on local marine ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 14, 2025
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See you later La Niña, we hardly knew you.
Environment
Apr 10, 2025
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The El Niño and Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is one of the most influential interannual climate phenomena in the global ocean-atmospheric system, with profound impacts on weather patterns, particularly in the Asia-Pacific ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 3, 2025
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