El Nino WebQuest
In addition to answering the following questions, make a list of the 5 items you learned
that you found quite interesting. These cannot be the answers to the following questions.
Write these at the end of this packet.
NOAA – What is ENSO?
https://www.climate.gov/news-features/blogs/enso/what-elni%C3%B1o%E2%80%93southern-oscillation-enso-nutshell
What are the 3 stages of ENSO? Describe them.
1.
2.
3.
NOAA – Effects of ENSO in the Pacific
4. Describe what happens to the trade winds, sea level, ocean temperatures, and
upwelling in the Pacific Ocean during normal and El Nino conditions.
5. Draw a cross-section that illustrates this. Use the figure in the web site as your guide.
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Live Science – What is a jet stream?
6. What is a jet stream?
7. What factors affect when and where a jet stream will flow?
8. Why are jet streams most active in winter?
The Weather Blog – Powerful El Nino likely to bring heavy precipitation…
9. Draw the Pacific jet stream, warm, air, and cold air for the Eastern Pacific area for the
autumn and winter seasons during El Nino-related tropical warming. Use blue for cold air
and red for warm air.
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Autumn
Winter
10. Describe why the Pacific jet stream changes its position between autumn and winter.
11. Why is this seasonal cycle critically important during an El Niño year?
El Niño
NOVA: The Quiet Revolution – Mapping El Niño
12. How big are the typical sea surface temperature anomalies during an El Niño?
13. Look at the sea surface temperature anomaly comparison. In which year do you think
the anomaly built the fastest?
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NOVA: Advance Warning
14. What instrument helped scientists detect the onset of the El Niño in 1997?
NOVA: Origins – Ground Zero
15. About how much water is contained in the bulge of seawater that sloshes across the
Pacific Ocean during an El Niño?
16. Is this wedge of seawater less salty than normal seawater? Explain your answer.
17. Name 4 records of evidence for El Niños.
NOVA: Tracking El Niño – Across the Globe
18. Click on “across the globe.” Summarize the effects of El Niño for 3 areas of the world.
19. Watch the video on Mr. James’s web site that compares the 1997 and 2015 videos.
Write a summary that describes them.
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