Natural Oscillations in Global Circulation

Question 1

What are the fluctuations that occur in multiyear or shorter periods that are important to global circulation?

Answer 1

Several system fluctuations that occur in multiyear or shorter periods are important in the global circulation picture. Multiyear oscillations affect temperatures and air pressure patterns and thus affect global winds and climates.

Question 2

What is the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO)?

Answer 2

Forces the greatest interannual variability of temperature and precipitation on a global scale.

Sea-surface temperatures increase, sometimes more than 8 C° above normal in the central and eastern Pacific, replacing the normally cold, nutrient-rich water along Peru’s coastline. Pressure patterns and surface ocean temperatures shift from their usual locations across the Pacific, forming the Southern Oscillation.