El Niño

Weather, alongside war, is one of the most disruptive forces on the planet.

Recently, the media and the scientific community have placed extra emphasis on the anomalies that have occurred during the past two years. These anomalies have been blamed upon a weather phenomenon called El Niño.

Every year there are many gains and losses due to the fluctuations of the climate. However, during El Niño years, the losses outweigh the gains greatly. Today, El Niño lingers, and seems to be connected with droughts in Australia, Brazil, or India, reduced incidence of tropical hurricanes of the USA, and floods in Peru. This site will explains in simple terms what El Niño is, how it has been predicted and its far reaching impact on all living matter in a fun and interactive way.

Tips for Navigation
For this version, Microsoft's Internet Explorer or Netscape 3.0+ [or comparable] is recommended. Frames must be enabled. The table of contents appears at the right. The sub-headings for each section can be viewed by clicking on the respective heading. You can help this site grow and interact with it by clicking on one of the four buttons in the menu at the bottom.
If you find that it is difficult to read this font size, and you are using Netscape, then you can click on "View" in the top menu bar, then click on increase font size. If you are using MS Internet Explorer, then you can click on "View" in the top menu bar, then on "Fonts", and then on the size of the font that you find easier to read.
Before you start your quest, however, be sure to read the short introductions to each section following this paragraph.

Introduction
We suggest that you start with the section "00 Introduction" to become familiar with some of the basic concepts that will be useful when understanding the causes of El Niño. Included in this section is an interactive weather map which will teach you how to read a weather map.

The Hype
Proceed then to the second section, "01 The Hype", which will effectively explain the effects of El Niño using 3-D models. Read the overview to get a sense of what an El Niño is, and then read the other sections for further reading. Included in this section is a detailed explanation of the word "El Niño" and its meaning, as defined by Michael H. Glantz.

The Impacts
Continue then to "02 The Impacts" which discusses in extreme detail the world wide effects of El Niño. These effects range from environmental to economic to sociological impacts. This section contains our exclusive interviews with 4 eyewitnesses, along with interviews of some people who have benefited from El Niño. Also included are interactive US and world maps.

Interactive Timeline
Advancing to "03 Interactive Timeline" will present you with an interactive timeline from 1550 to the present. Here you can find every year in which an El Niño took place and trivia such as the first El Niño year for which we have historical evidence and the first year that El Niño received its name.

La Niña
04 La Niña" contains information about the upcoming La Niña event which has been forecasted to be very strong.

Prediction Methods
If you are wondering how these forecasts were made, then read the section entitled "05 Prediction Methods", which contains in depth information on the TOPEX/Poseidon Satellite. By reading our interactive guide to predicting local weather, you will be able to astonish your friends by predicting upcoming weather.

The Preparation
Do not forget to read the section labeled "06 Preparation" which contains authorized information from the FEMA about how to prepare and act during natural disasters.

About the Site
If you are interested to know how the site was put together and who the team members are, visit this section. In this section is a list of those who we are greatly in debt to for helping us with this site.

Forum
We have included many ways for you to interact with this site. You can do so by participating in our message forums, or you can come join us for one of our exclusive interviews with El Niño experts in our chatting room, these interviews will be announced through our weekly newsletter. If you have pictures, sounds, or movies which you would like to share, you can do so by uploading them to our site and including a link to them on the messaging boards.

Learn Anything?
Just to make sure that you have been paying attention, we have included a section which contains a word game and quizzes to test your knowledge on this weather phenomenon.

and much more...