El Nino

El Nino means Little Boy, or Christ Child in Spanish. South American fishermen first noticed periods
of unusually warm water in the Pacific Ocean in the 1600s. It is also a climate cycle in the Pacific
Ocean with a global impact on weather patterns. The cycle begins when warm water in the
western tropical Pacific Ocean shifts eastward along the equator toward the coast of South
America. Normally, this warm water pools near Indonesia and the Philippines. During an El
Niño, the Pacific's warmest surface waters sit offshore of northwestern South America.

During El Nino, trade winds weaken. Warm water is pushed back east, toward the west coast of the
Americas. El Nino also has a strong effect on marine life off the Pacific coast. During normal
conditions, upwelling brings water from the depths to the surface.This water is cold and
nutrient rich. During El Nino, upwelling weakens or stops altogether. Without the nutrients
from the deep, there are fewer phytoplankton off the coast. This affects fish that eat
phytoplankton and, in turn, affects everything that eats fish. The warmer waters can also
bring tropical species, like yellowtail and albacore tuna, into areas that are normally too cold.

El Niños occur every three to five years but may come as frequently as every two years or as rarely
as every seven years. Typically, El Niños occur more frequently than La Niñas. Each event usually
lasts nine to 12 months. They often begin to form in spring, reach peak strength between December
and January, and then decay by May of the following year.

The warmer waters in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean have important effects on the
world's weather. The greatest impacts are generally not felt until winter or spring over the Northern
Hemisphere, L'Heureux said. The 1982-83 El Niño is estimated to have caused more than $10 billion
in weather-related damage worldwide.

El Niño also affects precipitation in other areas, including Indonesia and northeastern South
America, which tend toward drier-than-normal conditions. Temperatures in Australia and Southeast
Asia run hotter than average. El Niño-caused drought can be widespread, affecting southern Africa,
India, Southeast Asia, Australia, the Pacific Islands and the Canadian prairies.

In Malaysia, generally dry precipitation extremes tended to enhance during El Niño. this was
dependent on season and location. El Niño impacts were generally coherent across different
intensities. Malaysian climatology is largely dominated by the Asian-Australian monsoon with two
opposite monsoon regimes i.e. the boreal winter monsoon (northeast monsoon, NEM) and the
boreal summer monsoon (southwest monsoon, SWM). The NEM usually falls within December to
February and is the rainy period in Malaysia, while the SWM usually falls within June to
September and is the dry period. Multi-scale interactions between El Niño–Southern Oscillation
and the Boreal Winter Monsoon contribute to rainfall variations over Malaysia.

El Niño Modoki

There are several different types of El Niño (EL) events, with the canonical eastern Pacific and
the Modoki central Pacific. From the 20th to 21st century, the tropical Pacific witnessed a hitherto
unobserved interannual coupled manifestation, which is now known as the El Niño Modoki (EM).
Extensive research by many groups has shown that the EM effects on the worldwide
temperature and precipitation are distinct and different from that of EL.  it is found that rainfall
anomalies are negative over the southern peninsular India and positive over the central parts
of India during El Niño Modoki years. Detailed analysis suggests that the El Niño Modoki
modulates ISM rainfall by inducing changes in the western north Pacific (WNP) low‐level
circulation. The weak positive rainfall over the monsoon trough region is due to weak
moisture convergence associated with the westward extension of WNP cyclonic circulation
corroborated by lows and depressions. Anomalous WNP cyclonic circulation is induced by
the central Pacific Sea Surface Temperature (SST) warming associated with the El Niño
Modoki. .