El Nino the Quest for a Canadian Perspective

El Nino – The Quest for a Canadian Perspective

1. Go to: http://www.orma.com/weather/what-is-el-nino-el-nino-facts-faq/

A) What does “El Nino” mean, and why is it called this?

B) Using the diagrams, describe the formation of El Nino (before and after) in the space below.

Normal… during El Nino…

C) What are four key effects of El Nino?

D) What is La Niña? Explain.

2. Go to http://qz.com/147455/el-nino-may-make-2014-the-worlds-hottest-year-yet/ A) What is the the world’s biggest source of year-to-year climate variability? Explain.

B) What is the benefit to the North Atlantic region during an El Nino? For Canada in general? http://www.ocgy.ubc.ca/projects/clim.pred/enso.canada.html 3. Go to http://www.atmos.washington.edu/gcg/RTN/rtnt.html Case Study A) At Christmas Island, as a result of the sea level rise during the ______El Niño, what happened to the seabirds and why? What about the seals and sea lion populations in Peru?

B) How did the rainfall affect Peru? Describe.

4. Go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997%E2%80%9398_El_Ni%C3%B1o_event A) Why was El Nino so significant in 1997-1998? Give three major reasons. *

B) How is the 1918-1919 El Nino linked to the Flu Pandemic? https://www.pmel.noaa.gov/elnino/1918-1919-Flu-Pandemic

5. Go to http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/enso_advisory/enso disc.shtml Justify your opinion about whether an El Nino is developing right now or not.

6. Explore how weather has changed the probable course of history, and list the one you think is most significant  http://www.livescience.com/11339-weather- changed-history.html ©TWebb