El Nino

In class, we went over the El Nino effect. El Nino in Spanish stands for "the Child". The El Nino is an atmospheric and oceanic disturbance in the ocean. It occurs every seven to fourteen years. It usually around Christmas time. Warm surface waters flow from the central Pacific towards the eastern Pacific. It suppresses the cold, nutrient-rich upwelling of the Humboldt Current off the coast of South America. This disturbance decreases the number of plankton in the ocean which disturbs the food chain. The currents also causes trade winds to reverse its usual course. This brings torrential rain, flooding, and mudslides to the usually dry coastal areas of Peru and Ecuador, and causing monsoons in Asia. The monsoons can cause droughts in Indonesia and Australia.
The El Nino is very dangerous to our world. It can lead to global warming. Scientists are still researching what causes the el nino effect until then we have to think before we act.