INTERACTION OF OCEAN AND ATMOSPHERE

Peruvian fishermen used the term "Corriente del Nino" or the "Current of Christ Child" in reference to a warming of the Pacific Ocean’s surface temperature close to Christmas time. El Nino, as it was called by Cambial Carillo in 1892, would sometimes kill fish and bird life, but would also bring different kinds of tropical fish into the Pacific Ocean off of Peru. Although this change in the oceans was observed as a recurring event for over a century, the name El Nino is still widely used as a symbol of this phenomenon.

Until recently, El Nino was considered to effect only the west-central seaboard of South and North America, with little or no changes in world wide weather patterns. Now, meteorologists think that understanding El Nino will help explain droughts and floods that occur in other parts of the world during an El Nino, and might also be able to help predict these weather changes.