article_snippet.sent: El Niño is caused by a shift in the distribution of warm water in the Pacific Ocean.
article_snippet.sent: Usually the wind blows strongly from east to west, due to the rotation of the Earth, causing water to pile up in the western part of the Pacific. 
article_snippet.sent: This pulls up colder water from the Pacific Oceanthe Pacificthe Pacific.
article_snippet.sent: However, in an El Niño, the winds pushing the water get weaker and cause the warmer water to shift back towards east. 
article_snippet.sent: This causes the Pacific the Pacific to get warmer.
article_snippet.sent: But as the ocean temperature is linked to the wind currents, This causes the winds to grow weaker still and so
article_snippet.sent: the Pacific Ocean grows warmer, meaning El Niño grows.
article_snippet.sent: This change in air and ocean currents around the equator can have a major impact on the weather patterns around the globe by creating pressure anomalies in the atmosphere.
article_snippet.sent: The arrival of El Niño is considered to be late after scientists last year predicted scientists were expecting one last year, but the conditions failed to materialise.
article_snippet.sent: El Niño is one of the most powerful climate altering phenonoma on the planet.
article_snippet.sent: El Niño is the result of the El Niño Southern Oscillation, which is the cycle of warm and cold water across Pacific Ocean.
article_snippet.sent: the cycle of warm and cold water across the Pacific Ocean occurs at intervals of between two to seven years and can last for nine months to two years. 
article_snippet.sent: When Pacific Ocean is warmer than average for seven to nine months, NOAA officially classes NOAA as El Niño conditions.