{"id":67646,"date":"2026-02-26T19:42:28","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T14:12:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=67646"},"modified":"2026-02-26T19:50:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T14:20:07","slug":"el-nino-energy-imbalance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/26-02-2026\/el-nino-energy-imbalance","title":{"rendered":"Energy Imbalance and the Changing Dynamics of El Ni\u00f1o"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS1\/Geography<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A recent study highlights that the 2022 increase in Earth&#8217;s energy imbalance was largely driven by a shift from a &#8220;triple-dip&#8221; La Ni\u00f1a to a warm El Ni\u00f1o, combined with long-term climate change.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Earth&#8217;s Energy Imbalance Study<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Earth\u2019s Energy Imbalance (EEI) <\/strong>refers to the <strong>difference between incoming solar radiation and outgoing heat energy<\/strong>. When more heat is trapped than emitted, global temperatures rise.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <strong>2022 increase in EEI explains<\/strong> the sharp global temperature spike since early 2023.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The &#8220;Triple Dip&#8221; Impact:<\/strong> During a La Ni\u00f1a, <strong>warm water remains deeper in the ocean, <\/strong>resulting in a <strong>cooler surface that emits less energy back into space<\/strong>.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This unusual three-year cooling cycle acted like a &#8220;lid&#8221; that, once removed during the transition to El Ni\u00f1o, allowed trapped heat to surge upward.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>During <strong>2020 to 2023<\/strong>, the world experienced three <strong>consecutive La Ni\u00f1a years<\/strong> without an intervening El Ni\u00f1o.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What is ENSO? (El Ni\u00f1o\u2013Southern Oscillation)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>ENSO is a periodic fluctuation<\/strong> in sea surface temperatures and atmospheric pressure in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. It has<strong> two opposite phases: El Ni\u00f1o and La Ni\u00f1a.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>ENSO influences <\/strong>Indian Monsoon, cyclone patterns, droughts and floods and global temperature variability.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What is El Nino?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>El Ni\u00f1o is the <strong>warming of seawater<\/strong> in the central-east Equatorial Pacific that occurs every few years.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>During El Ni\u00f1o, surface temperatures in the <strong>equatorial Pacific rise,<\/strong> and trade winds, east-west winds that blow near the Equator, weaken.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Impact: <\/strong>El Ni\u00f1o causes dry, <strong>warm winters in the Northern U.S. and Canada <\/strong>and increases the risk of flooding in the U.S. gulf coast and southeastern U.S.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It also brings drought to Indonesia and Australia.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"cce0e9\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"675\" height=\"582\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image.webp\" alt=\"el nino\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-67648\" style=\"--dominant-color: #cce0e9; width:441px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image.webp 675w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-300x259.webp 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What is La Nina?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>La Ni\u00f1a is the opposite of El Ni\u00f1o. La Ni\u00f1a witnesses <strong>cooler than average sea surface temperature (SST)<\/strong> in the equatorial Pacific region.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Trade winds are stronger than usual, pushing warmer water towards Asia.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Impact:<\/strong> This leads to <strong>drier conditions in the Southern U.S.,<\/strong> and heavy rainfall in Canada. It\u00a0 has also been associated with heavy floods in Australia.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>How does it affect the Indian Monsoon?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>In El Ni\u00f1o years<\/strong>, India faces <strong>warmer temperatures and less rainfall<\/strong>, causing droughts in some regions.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This affects agriculture, water resources, and ecosystems.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The El Nino phenomenon led to <strong>1.4% decrease<\/strong> in food grain production for the 2023-24 (July-June) crop year.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>La Ni\u00f1a<\/strong> brings cooler sea surface temperatures, leading to increased rainfall in certain parts of India.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/energy-and-environment\/scientists-change-how-el-nino-is-labelled-to-keep-up-with-temperature-spikes\/article70674906.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong> Context <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> A recent study highlights that the 2022 increase in Earth&#8217;s energy imbalance was largely driven by a shift from a &#8220;triple-dip&#8221; La Ni\u00f1a to a warm El Ni\u00f1o, combined with long-term climate change. <\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong> Earth&#8217;s Energy Imbalance Study <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> Earth\u2019s Energy Imbalance (EEI) refers to the difference between incoming solar radiation and outgoing heat energy. When more heat is trapped than emitted, global temperatures rise. <\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> The 2022 increase in EEI explains the sharp global temperature spike since early 2023. <\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> The &#8220;Triple Dip&#8221; Impact: During a La Ni\u00f1a, warm water remains deeper in the ocean, resulting in a cooler surface that emits less energy back into space. <\/li>\n<p><a href=\" https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/26-02-2026\/el-nino-energy-imbalance \" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67646"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67654,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67646\/revisions\/67654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}