A TRIPLE DIP LA NINA
The Pacific forms the largest division of the World Ocean with 165.25 million square km in area. It means it covers about 46 per cent of the earth’s water surface and about one-third of its total surface area, making it larger than all of the Earth’s land area combined. Because of the sheer size of the Pacific waters, its influence on weather and climate extends from the Americas & Asia to West Asia and Europe. This is best seen in alternating El Nino means abnormal warming & La Nina means abnormal cooling of the Equatorial Eastern Pacific that lies closer to the Americas. Corresponding to this, the west of the Pacific, lying closer to Asia turns cooler during an El Nino and warmer during a La Nina. The warming of the ocean due to summer heat, sets up lower atmospheric pressure and triggers convection (the process of cloud-building) and precipitation (rainfall). Cooling is associated with higher atmospheric pressure that suppresses cloud-building and rain...