How Peruvian fishermen discovered El Niño
The physical engine of the Pacific
The global domino effect of weather
The cool sibling and the ENSO cycle
Watching the ocean from space and sea
YOUR GOAL
Master of How El Niño shapes our weather
diego Meteorologists feed ocean data into massive supercomputers to forecast El Niño months in advance.
diego Earth-orbiting satellites track El Niño by measuring sea surface height and ocean temperature from space.
Floating thermometers: Ocean buoys have cables extending 500 meters deep into the water to measure temperatures at different depths.
An anchored float used in marine science to collect and transmit oceanographic data. In 1997, Pacific buoy networks recorded massive underwater temperature shifts during a historic equatorial warming event.
What percentage of excess global heat from greenhouse gases is absorbed by the oceans?
What is the name of the network of 70 moored buoys that monitors the equatorial Pacific?
What do scientists call the computerized mathematical simulations used to forecast climate patterns?
How many months in advance can modern supercomputer models reliably predict an El Niño?