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Important Points in this Chapter
What we have discovered is that there is a cyclical variation from La Niña to neutral and to El Niño again. We know there is a ten year cycle but there are also shorter cycles of 3 to 4 years. Meteorologists have studied the cyclical variations since approximately 1960. As mentioned, the frequency of El Niño is now greater than is to be and the intensity of El Niño but not La Niña is greater. In the most severe cases, the El Niño effect can be felt throughout the world.
IMPORTANT POINTS IN THIS CHAPTER
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• General circulation describes the specific pattern of winds throughout the world.
• Winds are complex and involve interactions around the earth.
• Local winds are named according to where they come from. All of them are one of 4 types of winds, including anabatic, katabatic, sea, or land breezes.
• The term lake effect usually involves being in a location near a large body of water and area where snow is possible.
• The Southern oscillation essentially means that there are times when the circulation of the atmosphere between of South America and the western Pacific varies.
• El Niño and La Niña years are warm and cold extremes in temperature in North and South America due to variations in the Walker circulation pattern.
