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El Ni̱o is a warming of the surface water of the eastern and central Pacific Ocean, occurring every 4 to 12 years and causing unusual global weather patterns. An El Ni̱o is said to occur when the trade winds that usually push warm surface water westward weaken, allowing the warm water to pool as far eastward as the western coast of South America. When this happens, the typical pattern of coastal upwelling that carries nutrients from the cold depths to the ocean surface is disrupted, and fish and plankton die off in large numbers. El Ni̱o warming is associated with the atmospheric phenomenon known as the southern oscillation, and their combined effect brings heavy rain to western South American and drought to eastern Australia and Indonesia. El Ni̱o also affects the weather in the United States, but not as predictably. Produced for the Smithsonian Institution's HoloGlobe Exhibit which opened to the public on August 10, 1996 at the Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. The various data sets show progressive global change mapped onto a rotating globe and projected into space to create a holographic image of the Earth. The exhibit shows that Earth's atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, and biosphere are dynamic, changing on timescales of days, minutes, or even seconds.
