Comprehensive and up-to-date information on Earth’s most dominant year-to-year climate variation The El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in the Pacific Ocean has major worldwide social and economic consequences through its global scale effects on atmospheric and oceanic circulation, marine and terrestrial ecosystems, and other natural systems. Ongoing climate change is projected to significantly alter ENSO's dynamics and impacts. El Niño Southern Oscillation in a Changing Climate presents the latest theories, models, and observations, and explores the challenges of forecasting ENSO as the climate continues to change. Volume highlights include: Historical background on ENSO and its societal consequences Review of key El Niño (ENSO warm phase) and La Niña (ENSO cold phase) characteristics Mathematical description of the underlying physical processes that generate ENSO variations Conceptual framework for understanding ENSO changes on decadal and longer time scales, including the response to greenhouse gas forcing ENSO impacts on extreme ocean, weather, and climate events, including tropical cyclones, and how ENSO affects fisheries and the global carbon cycle Advances in modeling, paleo-reconstructions, and operational climate forecasting Future projections of ENSO and its impacts Factors influencing ENSO events, such as inter-basin climate interactions and volcanic eruptions The American Geophysical Union promotes discovery in Earth and space science for the benefit of humanity. Its publications disseminate scientific knowledge and provide resources for researchers, students, and professionals. Find out more about this book from this Q&A with the editors.

The enso, or "Zen circle", is one of the most prevalent images of Zen art, and has become a symbol of the clean and strong Zen aesthetic. This books containts examples of traditional enso art from the seventeenth century to the present.

Many scientists either working on the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) problem or its many applications have not been trained in both the equatorial ocean and atmospheric dynamics necessary to understand it. This book seeks to overcome this difficulty by providing a step by step introduction to ENSO, helping the upper level graduate student or research scientist to learn quickly the ENSO basics and be up to date with the latest ENSO research. The text assumes that the reader has a knowledge of the equations of fluid mechanics on a rotating earth and emphasizes the observations and simple physical explanations of them. Following a history of ENSO and a discussion of ENSO observations in Chapters 1 and 2, Chapters 3-5 consider relevant equatorial ocean dynamics, Chapters 6 and 9 relevant atmospheric dynamics, and Chapters 7 and 8 the main paradigms for how the Pacific Ocean and atmosphere couple together to produce ENSO. Chapter 8 also discusses the old mystery of why ENSO tends to be locked in phase with the seasonal cycle. Successful dynamical and statistical approaches to ENSO prediction are discussed in Chapters 10 and 11 while Chapter 12 concludes the book with examples of how ENSO influences marine and bird life. - Quick reference guide and step by step introduction to El Niño/Southern Oscillation dynamics - Keep informed and up to date on El Niño/Southern Oscillation research and how El Niño and the Southern Oscillation can be predicted - Understand how El Niño can affect marine and bird life

Many climatic extremes around the globe, such as severe droughts and floods, can be attributed to the periodic warming of the equatorial Pacific sea surface, termed the El Niño or Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Advances in our understanding of ENSO, in which Edward Sarachik and Mark Cane have been key participants, have led to marked improvements in our ability to predict its development months or seasons, allowing adaptation to global impacts. The book introduces basic concepts and builds to more detailed theoretical treatments. Chapters on the structure and dynamics of the tropical ocean and atmosphere place ENSO in a broader observational and theoretical context. Chapters on ENSO prediction, past and future, and impacts introduce broader implications of the phenomenon. This book provides an introduction to all aspects of this most important mode of global climate variability, for research workers and students of all levels in climate science, oceanography and related fields.

This FAO Technical Paper synthesizes current knowledge on the impact of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events on fisheries and aquaculture in the context of a changing climate. It describes the diversity of ENSO events (Chapter 2), ENSO forecasting (Chapter 3) and ENSO in the context of climate change (Chapter 4). It includes a global overview and regional assessment of ENSO impact (Chapters 5 and 6) and a focus on coral bleaching and damage to reefs and related fisheries (Chapter 7). Finally, it synthesizes the lessons learned and the perspectives for ENSO and preparedness in a warmer ocean (Chapter 10).

This is the catalogue produced in conjunction with the Enso: The Timeless Circle exhibition held at the Robyn Buntin of Honolulu Gallery in 2008/2009. Enso are the circles used in East Asian Buddhism to visually express Zen teachings on paper with a brush and ink. The Zen circle can represent many things-enlightenment, the universe, perfection, infinity, emptiness, the mind, the moon, enlightenment, and even a tea bowl or a sweet cake. Sixty-two enso are reproduced in color, both the image itself and the full-length of the scroll, with translations and commentary by Prof. John Stevens. The enso paintings date from the 13th century-the oldest enso painting known-to the present, with examples produced in Japan and in the West.

Daily coastal surface temperature and adjusted sea level data for the period 1955-1988 were used to characterize the surface temperature and adjusted sea level anomalies, and the propagation of features along the west coast of the United States during El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The strong ENSO years examined were 1957-58, 1972-73, and 1982-83. Moderate ENSO years used were 1966, 1976, and 1987. To look at regional differences in the signals, the time series of daily coastal surface temperature and adjusted sea level were divided into three distinct regions: the southern region (i.e., Southern California), the central upwelling region (i.e., Central California), and the northern region (i. e., Northern California, Oregon, and Washington). The anomaly series were compared with cross-spectral analysis. Phase speeds and wavenumbers were estimated from the difference in phase between La Jolla and the other stations as a function of frequency band. These were used to characterize the structure of waves associated with the propagation. of the positive surface temperature and adjusted sea level anomalies. These wave characteristics were found to be consistent with coastally trapped internal Kelvin waves, due to their phase speed, wavelength and non-dispersive nature. Phase speeds for frequencies corresponding to 4-20 day periods were 60-100 km/day, based on temperature and sea level. A regression of wavenumber against frequency gives phase speeds of about 65-85 km/day, that is consistent with Kelvin wave theory for typical west coast ocean structure and bathymetry.

On the basis of sea surface temperature in the El Niño 3.4 region (5° N.-5° S., 120°-170° W.) during the interval of 1950-1997, Kevin Trenberth previously has identified some 16 El Niño and 10 La Niña, these 26 events representing the extremes of the quasi-periodic El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle. Runs testing show that the duration, recurrence period, and sequencing of these extremes vary randomly. Hence, the decade of the 1990's especially for El Niño, is not significantly different from that of previous decadal epochs, at least, on the basis of the frequency of onsets of ENSO extremes. Additionally, the distribution of duration for both El Niño and La Niña looks strikingly bimodal, each consisting of two preferred modes, about 8- and 16-mo long for El Niño and about 9- and 18-mo long for La Niña, as does the distribution of the recurrence period for El Niño, consisting of two preferred modes about 21- and 50-mo long. Scatterplots of the recurrence period versus duration for El Niño are found to be statistically important, displaying preferential associations that link shorter (or longer) duration with shorter (longer) recurrence periods. Because the last onset of El Niño occured in 1997 and the event was of longer than average duration, onset of the next anticipated El Niño is not expected until February 2000 or later.