El Nino

( Article Type: Explanation )

El Nino, meaning the 'Christ Child' in Spanish, is the name of a warm, Pacific Ocean current that periodically flows

southward along the coast of Ecuador, as opposed to the normal, cold, north-flowing current. The current begins

somewhere between Papua New Guinea and Micronesia (a group of islands in the West Pacific) and flows across the

Pacific to Peru. The current was discovered by fishermen working from Spanish ports in the Pacific in the 17th century who called it El Niño because, although it flowed irregularly, its times of flow tended to be around Christmas.

When El Niño flows, it causes climatic changes in the Pacific region because water temperatures can reach up to 30° C. El Niño is associated with the Southern Oscillation (a variation in inter-tropical atmospheric circulation), which together are known as an El Niño-Southern Oscillation or an ENSO event. The current can prevent the up-welling of nutrient rich cold waters, which results in the death of large quantities of plankton which, in turn, causes a reduction in population of surface fish that depend on the plankton for food. A serious El Niño event can cause changes in South Africa’s climate and in the past has resulted in a number of severe and devastating droughts.