El Niño and La Niña: the Pacific see-saw
GeographyEarth in SpaceCommunity
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Sign in to playA cross-section of the equatorial Pacific from Indonesia to Peru shows trade winds, the warm pool, the sloping thermocline, upwelling and the Walker circulation. Students change the winds and ocean, use presets or play a cycle, and watch temperatures and rainfall respond.
Lesson: Weak trade winds let warm water spread east: the east warms, upwelling weakens, rising air and rain move east and Indonesia/Australia dry out (El Niño). Strong trade winds pile warm water in the west and boost cold upwelling off Peru: the west gets wetter and Peru drier (La Niña). Winds, sea temperature and rainfall reinforce each other.
Created by a teacher with Simulic AI and reviewed by the Simulic team.
How to use
Parameters you can change
- Trade wind strength 0–100 % of normal
- East Pacific SST anomaly -3–3 °C
- Warm pool shift -50–50 %
- Thermocline tilt 0–100 %
- Animation speed 1–5
