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What causes extreme shifts in weather? Dive into the science of El Niño and La Niña to understand how these climate phenomena originate in the Pacific Ocean and affect food production, water supply, and human health worldwide.

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00:06Warmer or colder than average ocean temperatures in one part of the world can influence weather
00:11around the globe. Boggles the mind, right? Here's how it works. During normal conditions,
00:17trade winds, which blow from east to west, push warm surface waters towards Asia,
00:22piling it up in the western Pacific. In some years, though, the trade winds weaken. The
00:27warm surface water moves eastward and reduces upwelling of cold water off the coast of South
00:32America. Climatologists call this El Nino. Its climate impacts show up mostly in the wintertime
00:39over North America. The warmer ocean fuels an intensification and southward shift of the jet
00:45stream. This brings flooding to the southern United States and warmer, drier conditions over parts of
00:51the Pacific Northwest, northern U.S. and Canada. But eventually, those trade winds pick up again
00:57and sometimes become even stronger than normal. When that happens, they blow the warm water back
01:03into the western Pacific and restart the upwelling of cool water towards the surface in the eastern
01:08Pacific. These strong trade winds are a signature of what is called La Nina. Unusually cold conditions
01:17in the tropical Pacific that displace the jet stream northward. La Nina can lead to drought
01:21in the southern U.S. and cooler temperatures, heavy rains, and flooding in the Pacific Northwest.
01:28El Nino and La Nina together are part of a cycle that influences extreme weather and can impact food
01:34production, water supply, and even human health, not just in the U.S., but in many parts of the globe.
01:47El Nino and La Nina together are part of a cycle. It is as Mahatima
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