El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO)
El Niño y la Oscilación del Sur (ENSO)
- Date
- 1892 / 1924 / 1969 · confidence high
- Place
- Coast of Peru (Paita) / UCLA, United States
- Credited to
- Peruvian fishermen (name), Luis Carranza (1892), Gilbert Walker (Southern Oscillation, 1924), Jacob Bjerknes (1969, ocean-atmosphere link)
- People
- 👤 Gilbert Walker1868–1958👤 Jacob Bjerknes1897–1975👤 Luis Carranza1966–
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
Peruvian fishermen called El Niño a warm Christmas-time current; Walker found a pressure oscillation in the Pacific and Bjerknes linked both into a coupled system that alters the climate of the whole planet every 2-7 years.
Coordinates of the north coast of Peru, where the phenomenon is observed; Bjerknes's synthesis was made at UCLA. Peruvian popular knowledge predated the science.
What it led to
- Seasonal climate prediction
- Understanding of global droughts and floods (1982-83, 1997-98, 2023-24)
- TAO/TRITON buoy array in the Pacific
Built on
- Trade winds and their explanation1686
- Walker's statistical meteorology in India
Made possible
- ENSO prediction models
- Moored oceanographic buoys