The weather effects every day of our lives. Barely a day goes by that most people don't check out the day's weather forecast, or maybe even the forecast for the next ten days. A phenomenon that meteorologist have linked to weather patterns around the globe is known as El Niño. We have heard both plausible and incredible accounts of the effects of El Niño in the

• news,
• on comedy shows (mpeg movie),
• in weather forecasts,
• and even political cartoons.

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

So...what is all the big fuss about El Niño? Here are some sites to give you some background on El Niño:

• http://www.elnino.noaa.gov/
  A good jumping off point for El Niño information.
• http://whyfiles.org/050el_nino/
  El Niño Rules! A simple site describing El Niño.
• http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/toga-tao/el-nino-story.html
  This site provides more detail, but more technical and difficult to understand. Includes some good graphics.
  

Do you remember whether the 1997-98 El Niño affected the weather where you live? What should we expect when El Niño strikes next?

From the information you gathered from the El Niño web sites, how do you think El Niño should have affected the weather where you live?

Whether or not El Niño really did affect our weather is still being debated. How would you determine whether El Niño affected the weather in the ways you predicted?