El Ni O-southern Oscillation

Overview

El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a recurring, coupled ocean-atmosphere climate pattern centred on the tropical Pacific Ocean that periodically shifts between warm (El Niño), cool (La Niña), and neutral phases. During El Niño, surface waters of the central and eastern equatorial Pacific become unusually warm and the trade winds weaken, whereas La Niña brings cooler-than-average waters and stronger winds. These oscillations, which recur irregularly every few years, redistribute heat and rainfall across the globe and are among the most influential drivers of year-to-year climate variability, contributing to droughts, floods, altered storm tracks, and disruptions to marine productivity and fisheries. Because ENSO links sea surface temperature to atmospheric circulation, it is a core subject in oceanography and marine science, with implications for ecosystems, coastal communities, and weather forecasting. As a topic within marine science, ENSO connects to research on ocean-climate interactions, extreme hydrological events, and the vulnerability of environments and human health to a changing climate. This page gathers peer-reviewed, open-access research relevant to El Niño-Southern Oscillation and the broader study of ocean-atmosphere climate dynamics.

Research published in this journal

1 peer-reviewed article, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.

This page summarises published research for orientation; it is not medical or professional advice.

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