physical impacts of an el nino event
- Created by: -haleema
- Created on: 10-11-16 11:20
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- Physical Impacts of an El Niño Event
- Marine life is affected near the west coast of the United States
- The Phytoplankton Effect - plankton forms the bottom of the ocean's food web, but as El Niño weakens the upwelling of cool nutrient-rich water to the ocean surface, the amount of plankton decreases, reducing the likelihood of fishermens' catches
- Coastal erosion occurs due to large amounts of water reversing backwards
- wave size increases with increasing wind speed, which wreaks havoc on beaches and coastal properties
- Coral reef damage
- wave size increases with increasing wind speed, which wreaks havoc on beaches and coastal properties
- Extreme rainfall events of the West coast contribute to landslides and flooding
- During the January 1982 storm, landslides were common features in the Santa Cruz mountains
- Rising sea levels
- Overwash at Rio Del Mar Beach in Monterey Bay in 1982
- Tropical storms occur in the Pacific Ocean, particularly near Tahiti
- Storms can create exceptional waves over 11m, as was the case in a beach at Ford Ord, Monterey Bay
- Droughts
- In the Pacific basin, Indonesia, Fiji, Micronesia and Hawaii are usually prone to drought.
- Virtually all of Australia is subjected to abnormally dry conditions during ENSO events, particularly the Eastern half. This us usually followed by bush fires and decimation of crops.
- India has also been subjected to drought through a suppression of the summer monsoon season that coincides with ENSO events in many cases
- Virtually all of Australia is subjected to abnormally dry conditions during ENSO events, particularly the Eastern half. This us usually followed by bush fires and decimation of crops.
- In the Pacific basin, Indonesia, Fiji, Micronesia and Hawaii are usually prone to drought.
- Wildfires
- Though El Nino events vary in each episode, the increase in the average amount of rainfall allows for underbrush to grow in forests.
- this could allow for the easy development of wildfires if and when conditions are right and land dries out, particularly in SE Australia.
- Though El Nino events vary in each episode, the increase in the average amount of rainfall allows for underbrush to grow in forests.
- Fewer hurricanes and tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic
- Milder winters in southern Canada and the northern continental United States
- Replenished water supplies in the south-western US
- Milder winters in southern Canada and the northern continental United States
- Marine life is affected near the west coast of the United States
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