GEOG 102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: North American Monsoon, Walker Circulation, Climatology
Document Summary
As ocean currents in tropics move westward toward east coast, it inevitably reaches polar regions and then begins to cool the region. There is evidence that the characteristics of enso are changing. Stronger, more frequent, longer lasting el nino events. Longest el nino of the 20th century: 1991-1995. Followed by the most intense el nino of the 20th century: 1997-1998. Due to warmer and moister atmosphere, the impacts of el nino are changing even though el nino itself doesn"t change. That"s because global warming has begun to change the playing field on which el nino and la nina operate, just as it is changing the background conditions that give rise to our everyday weather. This was said in 2011: when the next el nino occurs in a year or two, it will probably bring heavy rains to places like socal whose unstable hillside tens slide when soggy.
