The Atmospheric Environment

The atmosphere is important to us because of both air quality (which we will discuss next week in the context of asbestos hazard mitigation) and atmospheric processes - today's topic.  As discussed in class - atmospheric processes are important because of their energy.  The atmosphere is also important across timespans ranging from a fraction of a second (lightning) to millenia (global change).  This week's exercise looks at energetic atmospheric phenomena at the human timescale exemplified by the El Niņo / Southern Oscillation (ENSO).

Problem:

In the next 30-45 minutes, in pairs, please research the following topics on the Web:

• What is El Niņo, and why is it termed ENSO?
• What causes it?
• Choose a country or region and investigate
  • what the predicted weather/geology effects of the last El Niņo were,
  • what the actual events were, and
  • what is predicted for the next La Niņa in that area.

Write your selected place on the board so as to eliminate overlap.  We will discuss the group results in about an hour.  If you are done early, please research an additional location.

Resources:

National Geographic Magazine just published a nice synthesis of the state of the art of El Niņo / La Niņa knowledge.  It includes comprehensive links.   To combine search terms (like "El Niņo" and "Arizona"), try Google or Ixquick.