Skip to Content

EL NIÑO / SOUTHERN OSCILLATION (ENSO)

ENSO (short for El Niño / Southern Oscillation) is a recurring weather pattern influenced by water temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. During neutral conditions, convection associated with rising branches of the Walker Circulation is found over the Maritime continent, northern South America, and eastern Africa. During ENSO events like El Niño and La Niña, this circulation gets either pushed or pulled around (El Niño) or sent into overdrive (La Niña) across the Pacific.

I originally created these diagrams for NOAA’s Climate Program Office and Climate.gov (now Climate.us) in 2014. They have since been republished widely in research, white papers, and online.

Animation illustrating changes to Pacific Walker Circulation during ENSO events such as El Niño and La Niña. Arrows show changes in wind strength and direction, and colored regions show sea surface temperature anomalies over a world map.
Three diagrams illustrate changes to Pacific Walker Circulation during ENSO phases—neutral, El Niño, and La Niña. Arrows show wind strength and direction, clouds show atmospheric moisture, and orange- and blue-shaded regions show sea surface temperature anomalies on a world map.

Featured

HOW FORESTS CAPTURE CARBON
Illustration: Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the air and turn it into sugars, using the food to grow. This process, called photosynthesis, allows plants to make their own food, storing the carbon in their tissues as they grow roots, branches and leaves. In this way, forests help fight climate change by absorbing and storing carbon pollution that is heating the planet. Big trees store the most carbon because of their mass, and long-lived species such as Douglas fir and red cedar can lock carbon away for centuries. Trees absorb carbon dioxide gas through openings in leaves or needles called stomata. Chloroplasts within leaves and needles use the energy of the sun to split water molecules drawn up through tree roots into hydrogen and oxygen, released through their stomata. Trees and other green plants create the air we breathe, and shelter and nourish life as we know it.
HOW FORESTS CAPTURE CARBON
PINK SALMON BOOM
PINK SALMON BOOM
ICE ARRESTS
Map of ICE arrests during Trump's second term. Since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term through Oct. 15, 2025, ICE agents made a total of 220,929 arrests, the vast majority of which were in Texas, Florida and California. 34% of arrests involved people with no criminal convictions or pending charges. Washington saw nearly 2,000 arrests, 47% which involved people with no criminal convictions or pending charges.
ICE ARRESTS
ICE ARRESTS BY SEATTLE FIELD OFFICE
Multi-chart graphic showing that several northwest counties and municipalities saw a sharp increase in ICE arrests following the start of President Trump's second term, including King, Clark, Whatcom, and Yakima Counties in Washington; Multnomah, Marion, and Washington Counties in Oregon, and Anchorage municipality.
ICE ARRESTS BY SEATTLE FIELD OFFICE