Researched
El Niño-Southern Oscillation
Bjerknes linked El Niño to the Walker circulation (1969); TOGA (1985-94) put 70 buoys in the Pacific, and El Niño was first forecast successfully in 1986.
Open in the interactive tree →Jacob Bjerknes showed that warm ocean water and weaker trade winds reinforce each other, a feedback now named after him. TOGA, a ten-year study from 1985 to 1994, built the TAO array of about 70 moored buoys that report wind and sea temperature in real time to forecast models.
Prerequisites
Unlocks
- Paris 2015, 1.5 °C breached2024El Niño years add to global heat; ENSO forecasts frame the warming outlook
- Coral reef tipping point2025An emerging El Niño can trigger widespread bleaching, so ENSO forecasts warn reefs