ENSO: El Nino, La Nina notes

Environmental Problems associated with ENSO (El Nino Southern Oscillation)

ENSO may CAUSE….

THE PROBLEM….

      THE EFFECT

Warmer ocean water

Increased algal blooms

Increased bacterial growth

Disruption of migration patterns

  • Disruption of food webs; loss of biodiversity

  • Coral bleaching; habitat destruction

Movement of warmer ocean water 

Decreased upwelling

  • Fewer nutrients available for phytoplankton, which are food for many first level consumers, particularly anchovies off the west coast of South America

  • Decreased biodiversity

Increased rainfall

flooding

  • Habitat destruction/degradation/loss

  • Water contamination with bacteria if sanitation systems fail

  • May increase mosquito population , spread disease, such as malaria, yellow fever

Decreased rainfall

drought

  • Habitat destruction; decreased plant growth;

  •  food web disruption;

  • wildfires

Increased land temperatures

Species unable to adapt

  • Population decline; loss of biodiversity

Increased #/intensity of storms

Coastal erosion

  • Habitat loss

Change in direction of ocean currents

Disruption of species’ migration patterns

  • Food web disruption