El+Nino+and+Carbon+Storage

Your topic is the role that El Nino events play in the global carbon budget, i.e. amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.

Jacob Reilly Devon Archambault (Taylor Backhaus)

Grade- Organization 5 /5 Much better! Climate change explanation 8 /10 No explanation of why co2 matters with climate change? Oceanography explanation 13 /15 Could use a bit more explanation of El Nino itself, i.e. a diagram? Diagram/connection to text 7 /10 Good diagram but does it agree with your info? Would have been nice to have a diagram f El Nino too. Overall 33/40

What is El Nino- El Nino is an ocean-atmospheric phenomenon that occurs around Christmas which is where it's name came from which translates from Spanish as "the child" referring to Jesus Christ.

When they happen- During these El Nino years the winds stop and in some cases reverse direction and throw off the currents of the pacific ocean. During the regular years the pacific ocean spins in a clockwise direction in the norther hemisphere where it brings cold water down the western coasts of the U.S. and counter clockwise in the south where it brings cold water up the coast of South America. In the El Nino years the currents change direction and bring warm waters along the western coasts of the continents.

What is the Carbon Budget- The carbon budget refers to the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere and the sources where the CO2 comes from. This is balanced by the ocean which helps to release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and keep it level. This takes place when upwelling (when the cold water coming up or down the western coast replaces the water being pushed west along the equator) occurs. During the El Nino years upwelling does not occur and in fact the warm water is pushed along the coasts which causes down welling to occurs. Because upwelling doesn't occur the ocean is unable to release the CO2 and in fact absorbs it during the El Nino years and that results with a lack of CO2 in the atmosphere and the budget is not balanced.To sum up, during an El Nino years the currents are reversed and upwelling does not occur and CO2 is not released and is in fact pulled down by down welling so the carbon levels are less than normal and the carbon budget is decreased.