ClimateViewer and MyReadingMapped™ Credits
Created: April 30, 2014
Last Updated: January 7, 2019
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This map by George Stiller and Jim Lee is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Based on a work at climateviewer.org. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at climateviewer.com/terms.

Two ways to view this map
There are two ways to view this map:
1) is the areial satellite map you are viewing, and 2) is to use the DeLome seafloor base map or the ESRI Oceans base map listed in the Overlap BaseMap section of this site.

AHA Field Hydrothermal Vent
InterRidge Vents Database 2.2 (http://www.interridge.org/irvents/content/aha-field)
Discovery References (text):
Shank et al., Biology of Newly-Discovered "AHA" Hydrothermal Vent Fields Near 1 44'N on the East Pacific Rise Axis, EOS Trans. AGU, 81 (48), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract T51D-15, 2000.

EPR 11°52′N Hydrothermal Vent
"Decapod crustaceans from hydrothermal vents and cold seeps: a review through 2005" by Joel W. Martin and Todd A. Haney
Cited Source:
Williams & Baba, 1989

EPR 13N Hydrothermal Vent
"Decapod crustaceans from hydrothermal vents and cold seeps: a review through 2005" by Joel W. Martin and Todd A. Haney
Cited Sources:
de Saint Laurent, 1984; Guinot, 1988;
Williams & Baba, 1989; Guinot & Segonzac, 1997; M. Segonzac, pers. comm.; Shank et al., 1999; Komai & Segonzac, 2005b

Animal Farm Hydrothermal Vent
InterRidge Vents Database 2.2 (http://www.interridge.org/irvents/content/animal-farm)
Discovery References (text):
JM Auzende et al. (1996) Recent tectonic, magmatic, and hydrothermal activity on the East Pacific Rise between 17°S and 19°S: Submersible observations. J Geophys Res 101(B8): 17995-18010.
Other References (text):
(plume only) Baker, E., and T. Urabe (1996) Extensive distribution of hydrothermal plumes along the superfast spreading East Pacific Rise, 13°30′-18°40′S, J. Geophys. Res., 101(B4), 8685-8695
Jollivet, D. et al. (2004) The BIOSPEEDO cruise: a new survey of hydrothermal vents along the South East Pacific Rise from 7 24'S to 21 33'S. InterRidge News 13: 20-26.

EPR 21N Hydrothermal Vent
"Decapod crustaceans from hydrothermal vents and cold seeps: a review through 2005" by Joel W. Martin and Todd A. Haney
Cited Sources:
Williams & Van Dover, 1983 Grassle, 1986;
Williams, 1988; Khodkina, 1991

Guaymas Basin Hydrothermal Vent
Cited Sources:
Unavailable.

"El Niño events are by far the largest of any weather-related phenomenon taking place on the planet."
wattsupwiththat.com
Bob Tisdale:
In short, El Niño events cause massive changes in “normal” weather patterns around the globe and El Niño events can cause long-term changes in global surface temperatures. …
There are no other weather-related events on Earth that compare in magnitude to an El Niño. El Niño events are by far the largest of any weather-related phenomenon taking place on the planet, and they impact weather around the globe. If you think tropical cyclones (hurricanes) are big, sometimes it takes two cyclones straddling the equator in the western Pacific just to kick start the initial processes that might cause an El Niño to form. Only catastrophic explosive volcanic eruptions like El Chichon in 1982 and Mount Pinatubo in 1991 can counteract the global effects of an El Niño.

What is El Niño?
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Ni%C3%B1o)
El Niño (/ɛlˈniːnjoʊ/, /-ˈnɪn-/, Spanish pronunciation: [el ˈniɲo]) is a band of anomalously warm ocean water temperatures that periodically develops off the Pacific coast of South America. Extreme climate change pattern oscillations fluctuate weather across the Pacific Ocean which results in fluctuating droughts, floods, and crop yields in varying regions of the world.
There is a phase of 'El Niño–Southern Oscillation' (ENSO), which refers to variations in the temperature of the surface of the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean (El Niño and La Niña) and in air surface pressure in the tropical western Pacific. The two variations are coupled: the warm oceanic phase, El Niño, accompanies high air surface pressure in the western Pacific, while the cold phase, La Niña, accompanies low air surface pressure in the western Pacific.[2][3] Mechanisms that cause the oscillation remain under study.
Developing countries dependent upon agriculture and fishing, particularly those bordering the Pacific Ocean, are the most affected. El niño is Spanish for "the boy", and the capitalized term El Niño refers to the Christ child, Jesus, because periodic warming in the Pacific near South America is usually noticed around Christmas.[4]

Characteristics of El Niño.
El Niño is defined by prolonged warming in the Pacific Ocean sea surface temperatures when compared with the average value. The accepted definition is a warming of at least 0.5°C (0.9°F) averaged over the east-central tropical Pacific Ocean. Typically, this anomaly happens at irregular intervals of two to seven years, and lasts nine months to two years.[5] The average period length is five years. When this warming occurs for only seven to nine months, it is classified as El Niño "conditions"; when it occurs for more than that period, it is classified as El Niño "episodes".[6] Similarly, La Niña conditions and episodes are defined for cooling.
The first signs of an El Niño are:
- Rise in surface pressure over the Indian Ocean, Indonesia, and Australia
- Fall in air pressure over Tahiti and the rest of the central and eastern Pacific Ocean
- Trade winds in the south Pacific weaken or head east
- Warm air rises near Peru, causing rain in the northern Peruvian deserts
- Warm water spreads from the west Pacific and the Indian Ocean to the east Pacific. It takes the rain with it, causing extensive drought in the western Pacific and rainfall in the normally dry eastern Pacific.
El Niño's warm rush of nutrient-poor water heated by its eastward passage in the Equatorial Current, replaces the cold, nutrient-rich surface water of the Humboldt Current. When El Niño conditions last for many months, extensive ocean warming and the reduction in easterly trade winds limits upwelling of cold nutrient-rich deep water, and its economic impact to local fishing for an international market can be serious.[7]

Southern Oscillation
Wikipedia
The Southern Oscillation is the atmospheric component of El Niño. This component is an oscillation in surface air pressure between the tropical eastern and the western Pacific Ocean waters. The strength of the Southern Oscillation is measured by the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI). The SOI is computed from fluctuations in the surface air pressure difference between Tahiti and Darwin, Australia.[8] El Niño episodes are associated with negative values of the SOI, meaning there is below normal pressure over Tahiti and above normal pressure of Darwin.
Low atmospheric pressure tends to occur over warm water and high pressure occurs over cold water, in part because of deep convection over the warm water. El Niño episodes are defined as sustained warming of the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. This results in a decrease in the strength of the Pacific trade winds, and a reduction in rainfall over eastern and northern Australia.

"Scientists do not really understand how El Nino forms."
NASA (http://kids.earth.nasa.gov/archive/nino/intro.html)
Ruth Netting, NASA Content Manager
"Scientists do not really understand how El Nino forms. It is believed that El Nino may have contributed to the 1993 Mississippi and 1995 California floods, drought conditions in South America, Africa and Australia. It is also believed that El Nino contributed to the lack of serious storms such as hurricanes in the North Atlantic which spared states like Florida from serious storm related damage.
Unfortunately not all El Nino's are the same nor does the atmosphere always react in the same way from one El Nino to another. This is why NASA's Earth scientists continue to take part in international efforts to understand El Nino events. Hopefully one day scientists will be able to provide sufficient warning so that we can be better prepared to deal with the damages and changes that El Nino causes in the weather."

Non-traditional El Niño variations (anomalies)
JAMSTEC
El Niño Modoki is a coupled ocean-atmosphere phenomenon in the tropical Pacific. It is different from another coupled phenomenon in the tropical Pacific namely, El Niño. Conventional El Niño is characterized by strong anomalous warming in the eastern equatorial Pacific (see figure below). Whereas, El Niño Modoki is associated with strong anomalous warming in the central tropical Pacific and cooling in the eastern and western tropical Pacific (see figure below). Associated with this distinct warming and cooling patterns the teleconnections are very different from teleconnection patterns of the conventional El Niño. Hence, the new phenomenon is of interest to the climate community.

When was there an El Niño?
oar.noaa.gov (http://www.oar.noaa.gov/k12/html/elnino2.html)
Recent years in which El Niño events have occurred are 1951, 1953, 1957-1958, 1965, 1969, 1972-1973, 1976, 1982-1983, 1986-1987, 1991-1992, 1994 and 1997. The high sea surface temperatures and the magnitude of the westerly wind anomalies over the Pacific are very high. These conditions suggest that the strength of 1997 El Niño event could equal or surpass that in 1982-1983, making it the strongest El Niño this century.
The El Niño of 1982-83 was responsible for the loss of nearly 2,000 lives and displacement of hundreds of thousands from their homes. The losses were caused by droughts and fires in Australia, Southern Africa, Central America, Indonesia, the Philippines, South America and India. There were floods in the USA, Gulf of Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and Cuba. More hurricanes than usual affected Hawaii and Tahiti.

Cyclable El Niño vs. La Niña Years (1950-2014)
NOAA's Ocean Niño Index (ONI) indicates which years were El Niño vs. La Niña between 1950 and 2014.
The RED years were El Niño, the BLUE years were La Niña, the BLACK years are neither.
cpc.ncep.noaa.gov
NOAA / Public Domain

El Niño cycle correlate with changes in the incidence of epidemic diseases
Wikipedia
Extreme weather conditions related to the El Niño cycle correlate with changes in the incidence of epidemic diseases. For example, the El Niño cycle is associated with increased risks of some of the diseases transmitted by mosquitoes, such as malaria, dengue, and Rift Valley fever[citation needed]. Cycles of malaria in India, Venezuela, Brazil, and Colombia have now been linked to El Niño. Outbreaks of another mosquito-transmitted disease, Australian encephalitis (Murray Valley encephalitis—MVE), occur in temperate south-east Australia after heavy rainfall and flooding, which are associated with La Niña events. A severe outbreak of Rift Valley fever occurred after extreme rainfall in north-eastern Kenya and southern Somalia during the 1997–98 El Niño.[79]
ENSO conditions have also been related to Kawasaki disease incidence in Japan and the west coast of the United States,[80] via the linkage to tropospheric winds across the north Pacific Ocean.[81]
ENSO may be linked to civil conflicts. Scientists at The Earth Institute of Columbia University, having analyzed data from 1950 to 2004, suggest ENSO may have had a role in 21% of all civil conflicts since 1950, with the risk of annual civil conflict doubling from 3% to 6% in countries affected by ENSO during El Niño years relative to La Niña years.[82][83]
(http://www.who.int/globalchange/publications/en/elnino.pdf)

1918/1919 El Niño Related Flu Pandemic
elnino.noaa.gov (http://www.elnino.noaa.gov/pandemic_1918_1919.html)
However, a new NOAA-funded study shows that the 1918/1919 El Niño was one of the strongest of the 20th century, a finding counter to earlier analyses that viewed it as weak. This research could ultimately lead to a better understanding of how El Niño events impact weather in the United States and globally. It also suggests a possible link between El Niño and the 1918 flu pandemic. NOAA's Climate Program Office funded the study.

1982-83 El Niño was the strongest and most devastating of the century
The 1982-83 El Niño was the strongest and most devastating of the century, perhaps the worst in recorded history. During that period, trade winds not only collapsed-they reversed direction. Its effects were long lasting as well. It caused weather-related disasters on almost every continent. Australia, Africa, and Indonesia suffered droughts, dust storms, and brush fires. Peru was hit with the heaviest rainfall in recorded history-11 feet in areas where 6 inches was the norm. California had very high rainfall and the year was characterized by extensive flooding and landsliding. The event was blamed for nearly 2,000 deaths and more than $13 billion in damage to property and livelihoods. During this period, the thermocline off the South American coast dropped to about 500 feet. On September 24, in just 24 hours, sea-surface temperatures along a coastal village in Peru shot up 7.2 degrees F.

Absence of Cold Water Upwelling During El Niños.
WIKIPEDIA: El Niño conditions: Warm water pool approaches the South American coast. The absence of cold upwelling increases warming.
classzone.com
To comprehend El Niño, you need to understand the interactions between the ocean and the atmosphere. Warm ocean surface water heats and adds moisture to the air above it, forming low pressure systems (Low). Cold surface water cools the air above it, forming high pressure systems (High). In a Low, the warm, moist air produces tropical thunderstorms. In a High, cool, dry air sinks back to the surface and there is no precipitation. Together, the High and Low create a circulation pattern in which surface winds blow toward the Low and upper-level winds blow toward the High.
Motion within the ocean is also important. Within the ocean, an invisible boundary called the thermocline separates warm surface water from cold, deeper water. A shallow thermocline indicates a small amount of warm water, and a deep thermocline means there's a lot of warm water. Because warm water takes up more space than cold water, average sea level is higher where the thermocline is deep and lower where the thermocline is shallow.
During El Niño, warm surface water appears farther east and is spread over a broader area. Weak Highs form east and west of the Low, and surface and upper level winds are both weaker than normal. The thermocline is deeper and flatter overall, making average sea level of the eastern Pacific higher than normal.
Wikipedia Commons / Public Domain / NOAA

1997 El Niño observed by TOPEX/Poseidon. (Warm Water)

Track NOAA's El Niño Zone Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies
You can track NOAA's El Niño Zone Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies using the interactive graphic shown below on the International Research Institute for Climate and Society / Earth Institute / Columbia University web page.  You can adjust the dates to see how the heat builds up around the hyrdothermal vents.
NOAA / Public Domain
The journal reference associated with this dataset is the following: Reynolds, R.W., N.A. Rayner, T.M. Smith, D.C. Stokes, and W. Wang, 2002: An Improved In Situ and Satellite SST Analysis for Climate. J. Climate, 15, 1609-1625.

Thermohaline Deep Current
Shown: only the section of the Thermohaline Deep Current Circulation that relates to El Niño. To see the complete Thermohaline Circulation click here.
Wikipedia: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermohaline_circulation) Thermohaline circulation (THC) is a part of the large-scale ocean circulation that is driven by global density gradients created by surface heat and freshwater fluxes.[1][2] The adjective thermohaline derives from thermo- referring to temperature and -haline referring to salt content, factors which together determine the density of sea water. Wind-driven surface currents (such as the Gulf Stream) travel polewards from the equatorial Atlantic Ocean, cooling en route, and eventually sinking at high latitudes (forming North Atlantic Deep Water). This dense water then flows into the ocean basins. While the bulk of it upwells in the Southern Ocean, the oldest waters (with a transit time of around 1000 years)[3] upwell in the North Pacific.[4] Extensive mixing therefore takes place between the ocean basins, reducing differences between them and making the Earth's oceans a global system. On their journey, the water masses transport both energy (in the form of heat) and matter (solids, dissolved substances and gases) around the globe. As such, the state of the circulation has a large impact on the climate of the Earth.

Thermohaline Surface Current
Only the section of the Thermohaline Surface Current Circulation that relates to El Niño.
To see the complete Thermohaline Circulation click here

Direction of the Thermohaline Circulation

Galápagos hotspot
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gal%C3%A1pagos_hotspot)
The Galápagos hotspot is a volcanic hotspot in the East Pacific Ocean responsible for the creation of the Galapagos Islands as well as three major aseismic ridge systems, Carnegie, Cocos and Malpelso which are on two tectonic plates. The hotspot is located near the Equator on the Nazca Plate not far from the divergent plate boundary with the Cocos Plate. The tectonic setting of the hotspot is complicated by the Galapagos Triple Junctionof the Nazca and Cocos plates with the Pacific Plate. The movement of the plates over the hotspot is determined not solely by the spreading along the ridge but also by the relative motion between the Pacific Plate and the Cocos and Nazca Plates.
The hotspot is believed to be over 20 million years old and in that time there has been interaction between the hotspot, both of these plates, and the divergent plate boundary, at the Galapagos Spreading Centre. Lavas from the hotspot do not exhibit the homogeneous nature of many hotspots; instead there is evidence of four major reservoirs feeding the hotspot. These mix to varying degrees at different locations on the archipelago and also within the Galapagos Spreading Centre.

Galápagos Rift Hydrothermal Vents discovered by Woods Hole
divediscover.whoi.edu (http://divediscover.whoi.edu/expedition9/index.html)
Dive and Discover's Expedition 9 returns to the Galápagos Rift, located on a mid-ocean ridge about 250 miles from the Galápagos Islands where hydrothermal vents and exotic organisms were first found in 1977. In 2002, researchers diving in the submersible Alvin discovered that seafloor lava had paved over a hydrothermal vent site called Rose Garden, wiping out large communities of tubeworms, mussels, and other animals living there. Rose Garden was gone, but further exploration in Alvin revealed that life still flourished. A few hundred meters away, tiny animals had begun to colonize a new vent field in the aftermath of the volcanic eruption. Researchers named the field Rosebud.

Venture Hydrothermal Fields
venturedeepocean.org (http://www.venturedeepocean.org/expeditions/epr/)
With the support of the National Science Foundation, scientists are carrying out especially detailed studies at a so-called "bulls-eye" site. Many hydrothermal vents have been found in this 3.7km-long section of mid-ocean ridge. Moving out from the bulls-eye, there are various geologic features of interest, such as:
- Areas where the axis of the mid-ocean ridge (the narrow rift where most volcanic eruptions and hydrothermal activity occurs) shifts sideways by tens or hundreds of metres.
- Bodies of magma within the crust and mantle.

Meyibó hydrothermal vent site
wattsupwiththat.com /
In 2003, Clague and his colleague Robert Vrijenhoek spent two dives unsuccessfully searching for vents within just a few kilometers of the newly discovered site. At that time, Clague and Vrijenhoek chose their dive sites based on only low-resolution maps of the seafloor and the presence of abnormally warm water in the area.

Volcanic eruptions
venturedeepocean.org (http://www.venturedeepocean.org/expeditions/epr/)
Volcanic eruptions took place at the bulls-eye site in 1991. These covered large areas of seafloor in new lava, wiping out any animals that had been present.
But within a few years, a wide variety of microbes and animals had colonized the bare rocks. Scientists monitoring this colonization recorded a rich succession of living creatures (photos, right).

Argo Data Confirms El Niño/La Niña Caused By Underwater Volcanoes
strata-sphere.com (http://strata-sphere.com/blog/index.php/archives/18084)
At this site you can watch animation of nearly 5 years of Argo data on the tropical region of the Pacific Ocean. It is fascinating and proves my earlier conclusion that the warm waters of El Niño arise from the eastern pacific and travel west – not the reverse as is the current (now defunct) theory. You need to set the start date on the left to the earliest date in 2007 and the end date to the latest in 2012.
strata-sphere.com

What impact do hotspots and hydrothermal events have on El Niño?
Within the El Niño Zone is the Galapagos Hotpsot and the Galapogos Rift hydrothermal vents, Ventura hydrothermal vents and the nearby Meyibó hydrothermal vent that appear in or near areas where the El Niño Zone appears to expand around them. Does this imply that the heated water related to them feed the El Niño?
geography.hunter.cuny.edu
A new study by scientists at the University of Virginia (UVa) in Charlottesville and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado, suggests that explosive volcanic eruptions in the tropics may increase the probability of an El Niño event occurring during the winter following the eruption. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Theory Ties Earthquakes In Pacific To El Nino
nytimes.com
IN a radical new theory, researchers have suggested that events on the ocean floor, rather than in the atmosphere and at the sea surface, may trigger the enormous shifts in Pacific Ocean currents and air pressure known as El Ninos. These reversals in the equatorial Pacific cause changes in water temperature and climate over several continents, often with catastrophic effects.
The new theory was elaborated in two articles in recent issues of EOS, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.
In the first article, Daniel A. Walker of the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics at the University of Hawaii suggested that earthquakes along the East Pacific Rise were related to the vast changes of El Nino, which climate experts refer to as the Southern Oscillation.
Over 285 months ending in September 1987, Dr. Walker found a striking coincidence between the extent of strain release by earthquakes along the East Pacific Rise and the recurrence of El Ninos every five to seven years.
Herbert R. Shaw and James G. Moore of the United States Geological Survey office in Menlo Park, Calif., cited this article in their report, in the Nov. 8 issue, suggesting that periodic undersea volcanic eruptions spreading lava onto the ocean floor could heat water enough to set the oscillation in motion.

7/8/2014: 6.9M Earthquake Mexico, Guatemalae

5/10/2014 M6.0 Tecpan de Galeana, Mexico Earthquake
earthquake.usgs.gov
M6.0 - 11km W of Tecpan de Galeana, Mexico

5/8/2014 M6.4 Tecpan de Galeana, Mexico Earthquake
earthquake.usgs.gov
M6.4 - 15km N of Tecpan de Galeana, Mexico

4/18/2014 - Tecpan, Mexico Earthquake
huffingtonpost /
ACAPULCO, Mexico (AP) — A powerful magnitude-7.2 earthquake shook central and southern Mexico on Friday, sending panicked people into the streets. Some walls cracked and fell, but there were no reports of major damage or casualties.
The USGS initially calculated the quake's magnitude at 7.5, but later downgraded it to 7.2. It said the quake was centered 22 miles (36 kilometers) northwest of the town of Tecpan de Galeana, and was 15 miles (24 kilometers) deep.

5/13/2014 6.8M Punta de Burica, Panama Earthquake
6.8 - 105km SE of Punta de Burica, Panama

The East Pacific Rise
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Pacific_Rise)
The East Pacific Rise is a mid-oceanic ridge, a divergent tectonic plate boundary located along the floor of the Pacific Ocean. It separates the Pacific Plate to the west from (north to south) the North American Plate, the Rivera Plate, the Cocos Plate, the Nazca Plate, and the Antarctic Plate. It runs from an undefined point near Antarctica in the south northward to its termination at the northern end of the Gulf of California in the Salton Sea basin in southern California.

The ocean floor is higher in the east Pacific
The Pacific Ocean sea floor is higher in this area where the color is lighter than elsewhere.

El Niño affects on the fishing industry.
Wikipedia
The local fishing industry along the affected coastline can suffer during long-lasting El Niño events. The world's largest fishery collapsed due to over fishing during the 1972 El Niño Peruvian anchoveta reduction. During the 1982–83 event, jack mackerel and anchoveta populations were reduced, scallops increased in warmer water, but hake followed cooler water down the continental slope, while shrimp and sardines moved southward, so some catches decreased while others increased.[14] Horse mackerel have increased in the region during warm events. Shifting locations and types of fish due to changing conditions provide challenges for fishing industries. Peruvian sardines have moved during El Niño events to Chilean areas. Other conditions provide further complications, such as the government of Chile in 1991 creating restrictions on the fishing areas for self-employed fishermen and industrial fleets.

Warm Winter in Southeast Australia During El Niño

Warm Winters in Southeastern Brazil During El Niño

Warm/Dry Winters in the Northeast North America During El Niño
Winters, during the El Niño effect, are warmer and drier than average in the Northwest, northern Midwest, and northern Mideast United States, so those regions experience reduced snowfalls.

Warm and Dry Winters in North Central North America During El Niño
Winters, during the El Niño effect, are warmer and drier than average in the Northwest, northern Midwest, and northern Mideast United States, so those regions experience reduced snowfalls.

Warm and Dry Winters in Northwest North America During El Niño
Winters, during the El Niño effect, are warmer and drier than average in the Northwest, northern Midwest, and northern Mideast United States, so those regions experience reduced snowfalls.

Warm and Dry Winters in Malaysia During El Niño

Warm and Dry Winters in Eastern Africa During El Niño
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Ni%C3%B1o#Elsewhere)
Conditions are also drier than normal from December to February in south-central Africa, mainly in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Botswana.

Hotter and Drier Weather in the Amazon Valley During El Niño
Drier and hotter weather occurs in parts of the Amazon River Basin, Colombia, and Central America.

Dry Winters in Northern Australia During El Niño

Dry Winters in the Pacific During El Niño

Dry Winters in the South Pacific During El Niño

Dry Winters in Brazil During El Niño

Dry and Cool Summers in Eastern Australia During El Niño
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Ni%C3%B1o#Elsewhere)
Direct effects of El Niño resulting in drier conditions occur in parts of Southeast Asia and Northern Australia, increasing bush fires, worsening haze, and decreasing air quality dramatically. Drier-than-normal conditions are also in general observed in Queensland, inland Victoria, inland New South Wales, and eastern Tasmania from June to August.

Dry Summers in Indonesia During El Niño

Dry Summers in the Indian Subcontinent During El Niño

Warm Winter in Southeast Indo-China During El Niño

Warm Winter in Northeast China During El Niño

Warm Summers in Chile During El Niño

Warm Summers in Southeastern Brazil During El Niño

Warm and Dry Summers in Northern South America During El Niño

Colder / Dryer Winters in Northern Europe
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Ni%C3%B1o#Elsewhere)
El Niño's effects on Europe appear to be strongest in winter. Recent evidence indicates that El Niño causes a colder, dryer winter in Northern Europe and a milder, wetter winter in Southern Europe.[27]

Wetter Winters in Northwest Mexico During El Niño
Meanwhile, significantly wetter winters are present in northwest Mexico and the southwest United States, including central and southern California, while both cooler and wetter than average winters in northeast Mexico and the southeast United States (including the Tidewater region of Virginia) occur during the El Niño phase of the oscillation.[15][16]

Wetter Winters in the US Southwest During El Niño
Meanwhile, significantly wetter winters are present in northwest Mexico and the southwest United States, including central and southern California, while both cooler and wetter than average winters in northeast Mexico and the southeast United States (including the Tidewater region of Virginia) occur during the El Niño phase of the oscillation.[15][16]

Wetter Conditions in Southeastern Brazil During El Niño
Southern Brazil and northern Argentina also experience wetter than normal conditions, but mainly during the spring and early summer.

Wetter Springs in Eastern Africa During El Niño
In Africa, East Africa — including Kenya, Tanzania, and the White Nile basin — experiences, in the long rains from March to May, wetter-than-normal conditions.

Wet and Warm Winters in the Pacific During El Niño

Wet and Warm Winters in Northwest South Amercia During El Niño

Cooler/Wetter Winters in the US Southeast During El Niño
...while both cooler and wetter than average winters in northeast Mexico and the southeast United States (including the Tidewater region of Virginia) occur during the El Niño phase of the oscillation.[15][16]

Wet Summers in the Pacific During El Niño

Wet Summers in the US West During El Niño

Wet Summers in Southern South America During El Niño

Cooler/Wetter Winters in Tidewater Virginia During El Niño
...while both cooler and wetter than average winters in northeast Mexico and the southeast United States (including the Tidewater region of Virginia) occur during the El Niño phase of the oscillation.[15][16]

El Niño Supressed Hurricanes
El Niño is credited with suppressing hurricanes, and made the 2009 hurricane season the least active in 12 years.[19]

Fewer Tropical Cyclones During El Niño
Most tropical cyclones form on the side of the subtropical ridge closer to the equator, then move poleward past the ridge axis before recurving into the main belt of the Westerlies.[20] When the subtropical ridge position shifts due to El Niño, so will the preferred tropical cyclone tracks. Areas west of Japan and Korea tend to experience much fewer September–November tropical cyclone impacts during El Niño and neutral years.

Mild and Wet Winter During El Niño
Central Chile receives a mild winter with large rainfall, and the Peruvian-Bolivian Altiplano is sometimes exposed to unusual winter snowfall events. Drier and hotter weather occurs in parts of the Amazon River Basin, Colombia, and Central America.

Reduced Antarctic Sea Ice During El Niño
Many ENSO linkages exist in the high southern latitudes around Antarctica.[25] Specifically, El Niño conditions result in high pressure anomalies over the Amundsen and Bellingshausen Seas, causing reduced sea ice and increased poleward heat fluxes in these sectors, as well as the Ross Sea.

Colder and More Antarctic Sea Ice During El Niño
The Weddell Sea, conversely, tends to become colder with more sea ice during El Niño.

Zoom in on the Chira Valley Sand Dunes created during El Niños.
huffingtonpost.com
With a team of students, the two researchers dug test pits into the sides of the dunes, the tallest of which rises 7 meters in height. In the upper layers, team members found a dense concentration of shells, most of which belonged to two mollusk species favored by Peruvian diners today. Taken together, the cultural evidence strongly suggested that ancient Peruvian fishers had camped on the ridges, possibly year-round, eating shellfish meat and tossing away millions of shells.
By mapping and examining the ridges themselves, the team determined that they formed under a specific combination of events. When earthquakes periodically struck the region, they loosened sandy sediments throughout the Chira valley, and during El Niño events, these sediments were swept into the Chira River and transported to the inlet. There, shore currents carried the sand to the northwest and deposited the sediments in long dunelike ridges along the coast. Because little rain fell in the region annually, there was little vegetation to stabilize these ridges and protect them from strong winds that regularly gust there.

1918 El Niño was one of the worst droughts of the 20th century in India
elnino.noaa.gov (http://www.elnino.noaa.gov/pandemic_1918_1919.html)
The scientists also noted that the 1918/1919 El Niños central Pacific location links it more closely to drought in India. A severe drought took place in India in 1918, as the monsoon rains failed to develop that summer. The drought coincided with a flu pandemic that was sweeping the globe at that time – with tragic results. The influenza pandemic killed an estimated 18 million people in India. Globally, the 1918 pandemic is thought to have claimed about 50 million lives.
"1918 was one of the worst droughts of the 20th century in India. There was famine and a lack of potable water, thus a compromised population," says Giese. "It is clear that climate played a role in the mortality of peope in India. This is an example of how climate can impact human health. I think it raises intriguing questions."

Risk of a malaria epidemic in Punjab increased fivefold after an El Niño event
who.int
El Niño and human health by R. Sari Kovats
The risk of a malaria epidemic in Punjab increased fivefold during each year following an El Niño event over the period 1868 and 1943 (27). Historically, monsoon forecasting ability was based in the strong relationship between rainfall and the Southern Oscillation in this region. The sequence of a dry year followed by a wet year appears to be significant for the genesis of epidemics.

El Niño led to the demise of pre-Columbian Peruvian cultures
El Niño affected pre-Columbian Incas [85] and may have led to the demise of the Moche and other pre-Columbian Peruvian cultures.[86]

El-Niño helped touch off the French Revolution.
A recent study suggests a strong El-Niño effect between 1789 and 1793 caused poor crop yields in Europe, which in turn helped touch off the French Revolution.[87]

El Niño gave rise to the most deadly famine
The extreme weather produced by El Niño in 1876–77 gave rise to the most deadly famines of the 19th century.[88] The 1876 famine alone in northern China killed up to 13 million people.[89]

Equatorial Counter Ocean Current
The Equatorial Counter Current is an eastward moving, wind-driven flowing 10-15m deep current found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. More often called theNorth Equatorial Countercurrent (NECC), this current flows west-to-east at about 3-10°N in the Atlantic and Pacific basins, between the North Equatorial Current(NEC) and the South Equatorial Current (SEC). The NECC is not to be confused with the Equatorial Undercurrent (EUC) that flows eastward at the equator but at some depth. In the Indian Ocean, circulation is dominated by the impact of the reversing Asian monsoon winds. As such, the current tends to reverse hemispheres seasonally in that basin.[1] The NECC has a pronounced seasonal cycle in the Atlantic and Pacific, reaching maximum strength in late boreal summer and fall and minimum strength in late boreal winter and spring. Furthermore, the NECC in the Atlantic disappears in late winter and early spring.[2]

North Equatorial Ocean Current
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Equatorial_Current)
The North Equatorial Current is a significant Pacific and Atlantic Ocean current that flows east-to-west between about 10° north and 20° north. It is the southern side of a clockwise subtropical gyre. Despite its name, the North Equatorial Current is not connected to the equator. In both oceans, it is separated from the equatorial circulation by the Equatorial Countercurrent (also known as the North Equatorial Countercurrent), which flows eastward. The westward surface flow at the equator in both oceans is part of the South Equatorial Current.

South Equatorial Ocean Current
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Equatorial_Current)
The South Equatorial Current is a significant Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Ocean current that flows east-to-west between the equator and about 20 degrees south. In the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, it extends across the equator to about 5 degrees north.
Within the southern hemisphere, the South Equatorial Current is the westward limb of the very large-scale subtropical gyres. These gyres are driven by the combination of trade winds in the tropics and westerly winds that are found south of about 30 degrees south, through a rather complicated process that includes western boundary current intensification.
On the equator, the South Equatorial Current is driven directly by the trade winds which blow from east to west.

Humboldt Ocean Current
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humboldt_Current)
The Humboldt Current is a cold, low-salinity ocean current that flows north along the west coast of South America from the southern tip of Chile to northern Peru. Also called the Peru Current, it is an eastern boundary current flowing in the direction of the equator, and can extend 1,000 kilometers offshore. The Humboldt Current Large Marine Ecosystem (LME), named after the Prussian naturalist Alexander von Humboldt, is one of the major upwelling systems of the world, supporting an extraordinary abundance of marine life. Upwelling occurs off Peru year-round but off Chile only during the spring and summer, because of the displacement of the subtropical center of high pressure during the summer.

California Ocean Current
The California Current is an Eastern boundary current and is part of the North Pacific Gyre, a large swirling current that occupies the northern basin of the Pacific. The movement of northern waters southward makes the coastal waters cooler than the coastal areas of comparable latitude on the east coast of the United States.

Wind Current: Northern Westerlies
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westerlies)
The Westerlies, anti-trades,[1] or Prevailing Westerlies, are prevailing winds in the middle latitudes between 30 and 60 degrees latitude, blowing from the high pressure area in the horse latitudes towards the poles. These prevailing winds blow from the west to the east[2] and steerextratropical cyclones in this general manner. Tropical cyclones which cross the subtropical ridgeaxis into the Westerlies recurve due to the increased westerly flow. The winds are predominantly from the southwest in the Northern Hemisphere and from the northwest in the Southern Hemisphere.

Wind Current: Southern Westerlies
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westerlies)
The Westerlies, anti-trades,[1] or Prevailing Westerlies, are prevailing winds in the middle latitudes between 30 and 60 degrees latitude, blowing from the high pressure area in the horse latitudes towards the poles. These prevailing winds blow from the west to the east[2] and steerextratropical cyclones in this general manner. Tropical cyclones which cross the subtropical ridgeaxis into the Westerlies recurve due to the increased westerly flow. The winds are predominantly from the southwest in the Northern Hemisphere and from the northwest in the Southern Hemisphere.

Ocean Floor Geysers Warm Flowing Sea Water
sciencedaily.com
Date: September 25, 2008
Source: University of Illinois at Chicago
Summary: Earth scientists have reported movement of warmed sea water through the flat, Pacific Ocean floor off Costa Rica. The movement is greater than that off midocean volcanic ridges. The finding suggests possible marine life in a part of the ocean once considered barren.
Stein and her colleagues found that seawater on this cold ocean floor is flowing through cracks and crevices faster and in greater quantity than what is typically found at mid-ocean ridges formed by rising lava. Water temperatures, while not as hot as by the ridge lava outcrops, are surprisingly warm as well.

Panama Fracture Zone

The Siqueiros Fracture Zone

The Coiba Ridge

The Colombian Trench

The Yaquina Trough

The Alvarado Ridge

The Grijalva Ridge

The Sarmiento Ridge

Notice how the shape of El Niño matches the locations of volcanoes and hydrothermal vents.
I plotted as many volcanoes along the edge of the El Niño as I could fit on one page. Notice how wherever there are volcanoes and hydrothermal vents, the mass of warm water increases in proportion to the volume of volcanoes and hydrothermal vents.

Arenal Volcano

Barva Volcano

Irazú Volcano

Miravalles Volcano

Orosí Volcano

Poás Volcano

Rincón de la Vieja Volcano

Tenorio Volcano

Turrialba Volcano

Volcán Barú

El Valle (volcano)

La Yeguada Volcano

Apoyeque volcanic complex

Cerro Negro Volcano

Concepción (volcano)

Maderas Volcano

Masaya Volcano

Mombacho Volcano

Momotombo Volcano

San Cristóbal Volcano

Telica (volcano)

Zapatera Volcano

Chingo Volcano

Chinameca (volcano)

Conchagua (volcano)

Conchaguita Volcano

Guazapa Volcano

Ilopango Volcano

San Miguel Volcano

San Salvador Volcano

Santa Ana Volcano

Taburete Volcano

Tecapa Volcano

Usulután Volcano

Acatenango Volcano

Agua Volcano

Atitlán Volcano

Flores Volcano

Ipala Volcano

Moyuta Volcano

Pacaya Volcano

Sangay Volcano

Wawa Pichincha Volcano

Tungurahua Volcano

Fernandina Island Volcano

Cerro Azul Volcano

Galeras Volcano

Huila Volcano

Nevado del Ruiz

Tolima Volcano

Purace Volcano

Dona Juana Volcano

Wolf Volcano

Cotopaxi

Antisana Volcano

Cayambe Volcano

Chimborazo Volcano

Colima Volcano

Ceboruco Volcano

Parícutin Volcano

Everman Volcano

Barcena Volcano

Popocatepetl Volcano

Pico de Orizaba Volcano

Climate models that accidentally got El Niño right also show warming slowdown
arstechnica.com
The issue the new paper examines comes down to the difference between long-term climate trends and intermediate-term variations. In the long-term, the state of the climate is set by things like solar activity, orbital mechanics, and greenhouse gas levels, among other things. But on shorter time scales, things like volcanic activity and ocean cycles can have a profound effect on temperatures.
Coupled climate models that include both the atmosphere and the oceans accurately reproduce the behavior of the major ocean cycles, including the ENSO. But, since the onset of changes in the ocean is chaotic, the models generally don't get the timing right—the model may show an El Niño starting three years earlier than it does in reality.
If you're interested in how the models behave over a specific part of the historic record, that mismatch can be a problem, but there are several approaches to dealing with it. You can, for example, subtract out the influence of things like volcanoes and ocean circulation to see what the climate is doing without them. Or, rather than letting your model generate its own ENSO, you can force it to replay historic events in order to see what those do to the temperatures.