The Science Behind El Niño - Tom DiLiberto

2015 is officially an El Niño year, as declared by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. The Western United States had been hoping for the weather phenomenon to bring storms and water to the parched areas of California, but that might not happen this time. NOAA's Tom DiLiberto says that the El Niño weather phenomenon is caused by weakening trade winds blowing away from the Americas, toward Asia. The weaker winds allow water that is usually "piled up" in the western Pacific to flow back east, warming up the ocean off the coast of South America. These warmer ocean temperatures also warm up the atmosphere, disrupting more typical weather patterns.