Goddard Glossary: El Niño Southern Oscillation

We just announced that 2022 effectively tied for the 5th warmest year on NASA’s record. As human activities drive hotter and hotter global temperatures, have you ever wondered why each year isn’t the warmest on record?

There are a few factors, and for Goddard Glossary, we took a closer look at one that made 2022 a little bit cooler than previous years: the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. As the name implies, this climate phenomenon moves ocean temperature up and down, and while it has slightly cooled the last few years, its warmer phases contribute to even hotter record years.

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Video Description:
0:00 A woman with brown and purple hair talking in front of a visualization of Earth with red and blue splotches showcasing La Niña. The words “El Niño Southern Oscillation” are spelled out phonetically in white text above her.

0:02 The words fade into the acronym “ENSO.”

0:03 A data visualization showing the United States grayed out, with red and blue blobs floating across the Pacific Ocean.

0:09 Back to the woman. As she talks, the words “El Niño,” “La Niña,” and “Neutral” appear over her head.

0:13 Fade onto a globe with wind directions and speeds mapped onto it. The word “El Niño” appears in the top right.

0:17 Fade onto a new globe with a mass of red mapped into the eastern Pacific.

0:19 Back to the woman.

0:21 Satellite image of the Mississippi River surrounded by green fields.

0:23 Fade onto a satellite image of the same region. The river is much more swollen.

0:24 Back to the woman.

0:26 Fade to a similar globe as before, showing ocean temperatures but the eastern Pacific is mostly blue. The word “La Niña” appears in the top right.

0:29 Fade to satellite view of Lake Mead.

0:31 Fade to the same satellite view but Lake Mead has much less water in it.

0:32 Pan along a graph showing spikes of red and blue color, showing which years were El Niño and La Niña years. The most recent three years are circled, showing a “triple dip.”

0:38 Rotating globe with a data visualization showing temperature anomalies. Most of the globe is yellow with a blue patch in the Pacific. Europe and the Arctic are red. The word “La Niña” appears in the top right.

0:46 Back to the woman talking.

0:51 Pan along a graph showing global temperature bars for each year since 1880. The bars get taller as time progresses and temperatures increase. The bars are color-coded to indicate if they’re El Niño, La Niña or neutral years.

0:58 Back to the woman talking.