First of all lets have a humorous moment and enjoy a Chris Farley clip from classic SNL.
All right, now that we have that out of our systems let me pose some questions. I fancy myself a semi-pro science writer, but to tell you the truth, I am a bit baffled by El Nino.
Weather patterns and cyclical climate changes are simply fascinating. In light our the worries about human causes of global warming and climate change, it behooves us to better understand the natural dynamics of weather and climate on our planet.
According to my Wikipedia diving:
El Niño-Southern Oscillation is a periodic change in the atmosphere and ocean of the tropical Pacific region. It is manifested in the atmosphere by changes in the pressure difference between Tahiti and Darwin, Australia, and in the ocean by warming or cooling of surface waters of the tropical Eastern Pacific Ocean. El Niño is the name given to the period when water in that region is warmer than normal while La Niña is the period when the water there is colder than normal. The oscillation has no well-defined period, but instead occurs every three to eight years. Mechanisms that sustain the El Niño - La Niña cycle remain a matter of research.
The highlighting above is all mine.
Here is an interesting link from MSNBC about how there may be two forms of El Ninos. Basically it looks like now only am I confused about El Nino, so is everyone else.
I have also heard concerns voiced about sea garbage exacerbating the warmer temperatures of the El Nino effect because plastics are by nature insulating, and form a large part of the garbage floating in the "garbage patches" where they tend to gather in ocean currents.
Action Items on my Mind:
1. Continue to reduce man made causes of greenhouse gasses which contribute to climate change.
2. Reduce plastics in garbage and study how best to clean up ocean trash collecting areas.
3. Fund NOAA for monitoring, and predicting weather. Fun scientific study of weather and climate changes. The more we understand the more we can make smart decisions for the human population.
