E L N I Ñ O / L A N I Ñ A The term El Niño (Spanish for "the
little boy" or "the Christ Child") was originally used by
fishermen along the coasts of Ecuador and Peru to refer to
above-normal sea-surface temperatures that typically appear
around Christmas time in the eastern Pacific Ocean and last for
several months. But El Niño's effects are not limited to Peru
and Ecuador. They can impact weather patterns around the world,
and the disruption of the normal climate can have profound and
even tragic consequences. How Does El In normal years, winds
tend to blow from east to west across the waters of the tropical
Pacific. The easterly winds (remember that wind directions refer
to the direction FROM which the wind comes: an easterly trade
wind comes from the EAST and blows WEST) push the surface waters
westward across the ocean. In turn, this causes deeper, colder
waters to rise to the surface. This "upwelling" of deep ocean
waters brings with it nutrients that otherwise would remain near
the bottom. Fish populati