La Niña

• I learned that  La Niña is a coupled ocean-atmosphere phenomenon that is the counterpart of El Niño as part of the broader El Niño-Southern Oscillation climate pattern. During a period of La Niña, the sea surface temperature across the equatorial Eastern Central Pacific Ocean will be lower than normal by 3–5 °C. In the United States, an episode of La Niña is defined as a period of at least 5 months of La Niña conditions. The name La Niña originates from Spanish, meaning "the girl," analogous to El Niño meaning "the boy."

• I want to know more on why La Niña, is sometimes informally called "anti-El Niño", is the opposite of El Niño, where the latter corresponds instead to a higher sea surface temperature by a deviation of at least 0.5 °C, and its effects are often the reverse of those of El Niño. El Niño is famous due to its potentially catastrophic impact on the weather along both the Chilean, Peruvian, New Zealand, and Australian coasts, among others. It has extensive effects on the weather in North America, even affecting the Atlantic Hurricane Season. La Niña is often, though not always, preceded by an El Niño.

• I would like to research on how the results of La Niña are mostly the opposite of those of El Niño; for example, El Niño would cause a dry period in the Midwestern U.S., while La Niña would typically cause a wet period in that area. La Niña often causes drought conditions in the western Pacific; flooding in northern South America; mild wet summers in northern North America, and drought in the southeastern United States.

• I appreciate the fact that La Niña helps us in the production of rain that contributes a lot on the cropping season of our farmers, that helps in the production of our basic need which is the food.

• All of these information gathered can be the learning and insights that I can share with my family and friends. Also the things that we should do during the occurrence of this phenomena.

EL Niño

• I learned that El Niño is defined by prolonged differences in Pacific Ocean Sea surface temperatures when compared with the average value. The accepted definition is a warming or cooling of at least 0.5 °C (0.9 °F) averaged over the east-central tropical Pacific Ocean. Typically, this anomaly happens at irregular intervals of 3–7 years and lasts nine months to two years. The average period length is 5 years. When this warming or cooling occurs for only seven to nine months, it is classified as El Niño/La Niña "conditions"; when it occurs for more than that period, it is classified as El Niño/La Niña "episodes".

• I want to know more about how El Niño events begin when trade winds, part of the Walker circulation, falter for many months. A series of Kelvin waves—relatively warm subsurface waves of water a few centimetres high and hundreds of kilometres wide—cross the Pacific along the equator and create a pool of warm water near South America, where ocean temperatures are normally cold due to upwelling. The weakening of the winds can also create twin cyclones, another sign of a future El Niño. 

• I would like to research on how  the last several decades the number of El Niño events increased, and the number of La Niña events decreased. The question is whether this is a random fluctuation or a normal instance of variation for that phenomenon or the result of global climate changes toward global warming.

• I appreciate the fact that the first signs of an El Niño are:
1. Rise in surface pressure over the Indian Ocean, Indonesia, and Australia
2. Fall in air pressure over Tahiti and the rest of the central and eastern Pacific Ocean
3. Trade winds in the south Pacific weaken or head east
4. Warm air rises near Peru, causing rain in the northern Peruvian deserts
5. Warm water spreads from the west Pacific and the Indian Ocean to the east Pacific. It takes the rain with it, causing extensive drought in the western Pacific and rainfall in the normally dry eastern Pacific.

That can give us the clues on how to know if this phenomena will happen that can help us on preparing ourselves.

• With all of these information gathered, I can apply my learning and insights on my everyday life especially when it is summer. That I could apply and determine whether the phenomena occurs the way it should be.

TAIL-END OF A COLD FRONT

• I learned that a tail-end of a cold front is a front boundary of 2 air masses that are found in the mid-latitudes. 

• I want to know more about how a tail-end of a cold front is formed and how does it bring upon rain to the area where it is.

• I would like to research on how a tail-end of a cold front can affect us in our daily lives and how does the tail-end affects the whole cold front that actually is defined as the leading edge of a cooler mass of air, replacing a warmer mass of air, which lies within a fairly sharp surface trough of low pressure. 

• I appreciate the fact that it forms in the wake of an extra tropical cyclone, at the leading edge of its cold air advection pattern, which is also known as the cyclone's dry conveyor belt circulation. That also helps the prevention of drought that helps in the cropping season.

• With all of these information gathered I can apply my learning and insights in my everyday life as if I know how most of the occurrence in the climate. Especially the things that happen before or during the wet or rainy season.

MONSOON

• I learned that monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea. Usually, the term monsoon is used to refer to the rainy phase of a seasonally-changing pattern, although technically there is also a dry phase.

• I want to know more about how monsoon occurs and more about how it can affect us in our lives.

• I would like to research on how the major monsoon systems of the world consist of the West African and Asia-Australian monsoons differ from the inclusion of the North and South American monsoons with incomplete wind reversal has been debated.

• I appreciate the fact that monsoons bring upon rain that ends up the dry seasons which means that it can be the start of the cropping seasons, without the doubt of experiencing drought that would bring upon the wilt of the crops. That provides our necessary need of food.

• I can apply my learning and insights in my life especially during the rainy or wet seasons. With all of these information gathered I have now the confidence of sharing what I have learned with my family, schoolmates and friends that will help us in understanding the occurring of rain after the dry season.