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EL NIÑO/SOUTHERN OSCILLATION (ENSO)
DIAGNOSTIC DISCUSSION
Climate Prediction Center (CPC),
National Centers for Environmental
Prediction (NCEP),
National Weather Service (NWS),
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, (NOAA)
(General to Advanced Audience)
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El Niño Watch from Space
Air-Sea Interaction & Climate, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL),
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA)
& California Institute of Technology
(General to Advanced Audience)
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ENSO Wrap-Up (Australia)
Bureau of Meteorology, Australian Government
(General to Advanced Audience)
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Warm Water Volume and ENSO
TAO Project Office, Tropical Atmosphere Ocean project (TAO),
Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL),
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
U.S. Department of Commerce
(Advanced Audience)
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EL NIÑO & ENSO HOT TOPICS
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El Niño Theme Page
Tropical Atmosphere Ocean project (TAO),
Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL),
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
U.S. Department of Commerce
(General to Technical Audience)
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El Niño: A Global Weather Phenomenon
Air-Sea Interaction & Climate, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL),
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA)
& California Institute of Technology
(General Audience)
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El Niño, La Niña, and ‘decadal variability’ cause
long-term temperature changes in Pacific
Dr. Benjamin Giese, Quarterdeck, Volume 6, Number 2,
Department of Oceanography, Texas A&M University
(General Audience)
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El Niño Sea-Level Rise Wreaks Havoc in California’s
San Francisco Bay Region
Holly Ryan, Helen Gibbons,
James W. Hendley II, Peter Stauffer,
U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 175-99,
Online Version 1.0,
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS),
U.S. Department of the Interior
(General Audience)
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The El-Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO)
John L. Daly, Still Waiting for Greenhouse
(General Audience)
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Keep a weather eye on those vanishing jellyfish
Issue 2523, New Scientist magazine,
Climate Change, NewScientist.com
(General Audience)
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NASA DISCOVERS A SOGGY SECRET OF EL NIÑO
Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC),
National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA)
(General Audience)
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NOAA El Niño Page
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
U.S. Department of Commerce
(General Audience)
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Ocean Surface Salinity Influences El Niño Forecasts
NASA News Archive, News, Earth Observatory,
National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA)
(General Audience)
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RIFT VALLEY FEVER
Agriculture Department,
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO),
United Nations (UN),
(General Audience)
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Volcanic eruptions may affect El Niño onset
National Science Foundation (NSF),
(General Audience)
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Our atmosphere is constantly changing. The state of the atmosphere and how
it changes is what we call weather. The immense ocean of air
in which we live has the ability to reconfigure itself quickly on many
different scales; this serves as a source of wonder, pleasure,
vexation and danger.
Because weather can influence our lives so greatly, it has become necessary
to make attempts to accurately predict it. During the last century
weather prediction grew from little more than an art into a well-recognized
discipline within the now-robust science of meteorology (the study of the
atmosphere and its components). Prediction, by its very nature, is less
than perfect; because of this imperfection and the significant effects
weather exerts on our daily lives, the weatherman has become
fodder for jokesters, skeptics and complainers. During my tenure as U.S.
Air Force meteorologist and weather forecaster, our jovial response to the
critics became, “Our forecast is guaranteed. If it fails for any
reason, we’ll give you a new one.”
The quality of weather prediction has improved dramatically over the
last 30 years. Numerical models, satellite imagery, doppler radar and
other state-of-the-art technologies have revolutionized the field of
meteorology. Nearly gone is the moniker of weatherman,
in great part because many of today’s meteorologists are women.
Forecasting the weather is still far from perfect, but great strides have
been made — especially in the arenas of severe storm prediction and
tropical meteorology. As accuracy has improved, respect has grown for
meteorologists and their role as protectors of the public interest.
Authored by Kenneth L. Anderson.
Original article published prior to 13 April 2003, updated 29 March
2004.
Follow links to the right to learn more about the Pacific Ocean climatological phenomena known as
El Niño, La Niña and the El Niño
Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and how these periodic
weather and oceanic events influence global
climate.
At the left margin, Related Links address topics of interest
pertaining to oceans and climate, tropical meteorology and global warming. View the
Weather & Meteorology SiteMap
for a complete list of meteorology and weather-related topics.
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