Sea surface temperature anomaly timeline: 1982-2017

El Niño is an irregularly recurring climate pattern characterized by warmer than usual ocean temperatures in the equatorial Pacific, which creates a ripple effect of anticipated weather changes in far-spread regions of Earth. This visualization captures sea surface temperature anomalies around the world from 1982 to 2017, along with a corresponding time plot graph that represents average equatorial sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean from about the International Date Line to the coast of South America. Highlighted in the timeline are the El Niño years in which sea surface temperature anomalies peaked: 1982-1983, 1997-1998, and 2015-2016. Download the video: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/details.cgi?aid=4695&button=recent