El Niño and La Niña

phenomena
 El Niño
• is a Spanish word which means little boy and connected with the
celebration of the Christian holiday marking the birth of Jesus.
• It is an abnormal and lengthy warming in the eastern part of the
Pacific Ocean.
• This natural phenomenon occurs at irregular intervals of two to seven
years and lasts for nine months or two years at most.
• Usually, it starts at the end of the year or during the Christmas season
(December to February)
• Normally, as trade winds move
from east to west, they collect
warm air.
• But when trade winds are
weakened, they cause the piling
up of warm surface water and
making the part of the Pacific
Ocean warmer leading to the El
Niño phenomenon.
• This happens when the
upwelling of colder water is
blocked by the large quantities
of warm surface water.
• Since the Pacific Ocean is to the
East of the Philippines, the El
Niño phenomenon will affect
the country.
• There will be an increase of the
temperature in the Eastern part
of the Pacific Ocean, and it is
expected that some areas in the
Philippines will experience this
climatic phenomenon.
• While some areas in the country
will experience near to above
average rainfall and some areas
may experience drier than
normal
 Effect of El Niño
• The El Niño phenomenon is characterized by extreme climatic conditions;
• extreme temperature rise with a little rainfall,
• opposite extreme – there is unusually heavy rainfall.
• Causes the diseases related to water scarcity or shortage such as
• Diarrhea
• skin diseases
• paralytic shellfish poisoning
• disorders associated with high temperatures:
• heat cramps
• heat exhaustion
• exertional heat injury
• heat stroke
 La Niña
• is a Spanish word which means little girl.
• It is the opposite climatic disturbance to El Niño.
• This natural phenomenon may, but does not always, follow
El Niño events.
• It starts September or October that may last for nine to
twelve months but in some cases, it lasts for two years.
• This event is triggered by the cooling of the eastern part of
the Pacific Ocean that is why it is sometimes called “cold
Pacific”
 What happen during La Niña?
• Trade winds that move from east to west are
strengthened.
• Upwelling of colder water intensifies.
• Moving air brings along too much water vapor.
• When it reaches the landmass such as Philippines,
precipitation is experienced.
 What happen during La Niña?
• There would be an increase of rainfall in some areas in
the Philippines.
• For instance, areas that experienced severe drought
caused by El Niño may encounter above normal
rainfall.
• But in some cases, areas that experience dry season
will have drier than normal conditions.
 Effect of La Niña
• La Niña is characterized by unusually cold ocean temperature in the
Equatorial Pacific which causes increased numbers of tropical storms
in the Pacific Ocean.
• When flooding occurs due to La Niña, water might get contaminated
by either bacteria or viruses that could infect people and may causes
diseases like
• acute gastroenteritis,
• typhoid fever,
• cholera
• hepatitis A
• Leptospirosis
• dengue
• malaria.
 How El Niño and La Niña phenomena affects
global climate?
• El Niño is caused by the warming of sea surface temperature
in the Pacific and can affect air and sea currents.
• It creates stronger wind-shear and more-stable air over the
Atlantic, which makes it harder for hurricanes to form
• La Niña affects atmospheric pressure and temperature,
rainfall and ocean temperature.
• It usually has a positive impact on the fishing industry of
western South America