What is ENSO?
El Niño and La Niña: how the tropical Pacific reshapes weather around the world.
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Learn
How the atmosphere actually works.
Short, visual explanations of the processes behind the weather — each one built as a chain of causes you can follow, with deeper science a click away.
7 topics
Climate modes
Recurring patterns of ocean–atmosphere variability that shift weather for weeks to years.
The Indian Ocean Dipole
A see-saw of sea surface temperature across the Indian Ocean.
4-step mechanismDraftRead topicThe Madden–Julian Oscillation
A travelling pulse of tropical rainfall that circles the globe in one to two months.
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Atmospheric circulation
The large-scale flows that move heat, moisture and weather systems around the planet.
The jet stream
The fast river of wind high above us that steers storms and shapes weather patterns.
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Phenomena
Weather systems with their own structure and life cycle.
Atmospheric rivers
Long, narrow corridors of water vapour that can deliver both vital water supply and flooding rain.
4-step mechanismDraftRead topicTropical cyclones
How warm oceans power the most intense storms on Earth.
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Hazards
When atmospheric processes become dangerous.
Heatwaves
Why heat can build day after day — and why definitions matter.
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