ENSO interactive lesson

El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO)

True or False:

Determine weather (get it, weATHER?) the following statements about ENSO are factual or incorrect. Let's start!

Let's Play a Game!

Multiple Choice

TRUE or FALSE: There are only 2 stages of ENSO - El Nino and La Nina

• TRUE

• FALSE

Open Ended

Have you heard about the 3 stages of ENSO before? What are they and how would you describe them?

According to PAG-ASA, we are currently experiencing the effects of El Nino while we are on La Nina watch. What is the difference between watch, alert, and the stages themselves?

PAG-ASA Advisory

Open Ended

Using the meme attached, how would you differentiate Watch Vs. Warning (Or alert, in the Philippines)?

"Watch" indicates that all conditions are favorable for it to occur, while "Warning" (Or Alert here in the Philippines) means that these conditions have come together already. The actual stage itself (ex. El Nino, La Nina, or Inactive) means that we are currently experiencing its effects.

As seen in the meme,

Multiple Choice

TRUE or FALSE: El Nino means drought and La Nina means flooding

• TRUE

• FALSE

Open Ended

According to the articles attached, what can you infer about the effects of El Nino?

El Nino brings hotter weather to the west of the Pacific, while La Nina brings wetter conditions.

West Pacific (Philippines)

In contrast, El Nino brings rainy weather to the east of the Pacific, while La Nina brings drier conditions.

​​East Pacific (Peru)

But why???

Open Ended

Attempt to explain the Neutral/Inactive stage of ENSO using the diagram attached

Trade winds blow warm water to the west of the Pacific ocean, leaving cool water behind in the east. Warm water from the ocean gets sucked up into the atmosphere to form low pressure areas, causing the west of the pacific to get rainy weather conditions while the east gets drier weather conditions.

NEUTRAL stage

During El Nino, the trade winds WEAKEN, meaning less warm water gets blown into the west and concentrates on the east of the Pacific ocean instead. This causes a drier weather in the west and rainy weather in the east.

EL NINO stage

Lastly, during LA Nina the trade winds get STRONGER, meaning even more warm water gets blown into the west and concentrates there, while the east gets little to none warm water. This causes an extremely rainy condition in the west of the Pacific, and extremely dry conditions in the east.

LA NINA stage

Multiple Choice

How do we determine if we have already entered a specific stage in the ENSO?

• the daily global temperature!

• the daily global rainfall!

• the daily global CO2 amount!

• the daily global population!

To summarize:

​The daily global temperature will dictate the stage of the ENSO. As per PAG-ASA, an increase of 0.5 degrees Celsius from the daily global average temperature would indicate the El Nino, while a decrease of 0.5 degrees Celsius from the daily global average temperature would indicate the La Nina. Anything in between would be Neutral or Inactive.

Multiple Choice

TRUE or FALSE: El Nino and La Nina happens every year

• TRUE

• FALSE

Open Ended

We are currently experiencing El Nino right now. But when was the last La Nina? And when was the last El Nino before that?

Clue: Check the PAG-ASA Website!

and they typically last only 9-12 months.
The last La Nina ended on March 2023, and the El Nino prior to that ended in August 2019

EL Nino and La Nina reoccur every 2-7 years!

Word Cloud

That's it, pancit! Let me know how you felt about this interactive presentation by leaving a word or 2 below. Remember that we have a quiz tomorrow on hydro hazards, ok?? :)