Every few years the El Nio Phenomenon kicks into life in the Pacific Ocean

around the equator. It can affect weather around the world changing the odds
of floods, drought, heat waves and cold seasons for different regions even
raising global temperatures.
But what is El Nio and how does it happen?
Firstly we need to know what's normally happening in the tropical Pacific. This
vast stretch of ocean sees consistent winds called "trade winds" that blow from
east to west. This winds push warm water near the surface in the direction of
travel, so the warm water piles up on the western side of the ocean around
Asia and Australasia.
On the other side of the ocean around South and Central America as the
warmer water gets pushed away from the coast it's replaced by cold water
which is pulled up from deeper down in the ocean a process called upwelling.
This creates a temperature difference across the tropical Pacific with warmer
water piled up in the West and cooler water in the east. Warmer water adds
extra heat to the air which causes the air to rise with more vigor and its this
rising air that creates an area of more unsettle weather with more cloud in
rainfall. That rising air in the West sets up atmospheric circulation across this
part of the world with warm moist air rising on one side of the Ocean and
cooler dryer air descending on the other. This circulation reinforces the easterly
winds so this part of the world sits in a self-perpetuating state until El Nio
begins. If conditions are right tropical Pacific weather systems or slow changes
in the ocean around the equator can set off a chain of events which weaken or
even reverse the usual trade winds. With weakened trade winds there's less
push of warm surface water to the western side of the ocean and less upwelling
of cold water on the eastern side. This allows the usually colder parts of the
ocean to warm canceling out the normal temperature difference. Because the
area of warmest water moves so does the associated wet and unsettled
weather. This changes rainfall patterns over the equatorial Pacific as well as the
large-scale wind patterns. It's this change in winds which has a knock-on effect
changing temperature and rainfall in locations around the world.
The main impacts are around the tropics where you see an increase in the risk
of floods in Peru and droughts in Indonesia, India and parts of Brazil. But
virtually wherever you are in the world El Nio has the potential to affect you
directly via the weather or indirectly via socio-economic impacts. There's
another impact from El Nio which happens because of all the extra heat at the
surface of the tropical Pacific. This releases vast amounts of energy into the
atmosphere which can temporarily push up global temperatures. This is why El
Nio years often feature among the warmest on record. Each El Nio event is
different so the global impacts can change.
El Nio peaks around Christmas-time and last for several months. It can drive
back to neutral conditions but sometimes reverses into La Nia. This is the flip
side of the oscillation which sees a strengthening of the normal trade winds.
This pushes the warmest water to the far western part of the tropical Pacific

and increases the upwelling of cold water in the east. This cooler water extends
out from the coast of the Americas towards the central part of the ocean. La
Nia also impacts global weather and tends to have opposite effects to El Nio.