Explain how global warming and El Niño events may lead to increasing natural hazards. (15)
In part (b), good answers displayed a sound grasp of both global warming and El Niño; moreover, they maintained a good focus on natural hazards. Answers that had potential but failed to fully deliver typically discussed impacts of the two phenomena (such as climate change causing biomes to shift or El Niño effecting fi sh stocks or temperatures) but did not explicitly mention many natural hazards (in particular, El Niño needed to be related to drought, bush fi res, landslides etc.).
A few outstanding answers were able to link the two together and to suggest how global warming and ElNino events might interact to bring increased natural hazards
Key term refresh
• El Niño is as a sustained sea surface temperature anomaly across the central tropical Pacifi c Ocean.
During an El Niño event, air pressure rises over the Indian Ocean, Indonesia, and Australia, and falls over Tahiti and the rest of the central and eastern Pacifi c Ocean. Trade winds in the south Pacifi c weaken or reverse direction. Warm air rises near Peru, bringing rain to coastal areas. El Niño events are associated with warm and very wet summers (December–February) along the coasts of northern Peru and Ecuador, with major fl ooding. El Niño events also result in drier conditions in parts of Southeast Asia and parts of Australia, increasing bushfires.
A few outstanding answers were able to link the two together and to suggest how global warming and ElNino events might interact to bring increased natural hazards
Key term refresh
• El Niño is as a sustained sea surface temperature anomaly across the central tropical Pacifi c Ocean.
During an El Niño event, air pressure rises over the Indian Ocean, Indonesia, and Australia, and falls over Tahiti and the rest of the central and eastern Pacifi c Ocean. Trade winds in the south Pacifi c weaken or reverse direction. Warm air rises near Peru, bringing rain to coastal areas. El Niño events are associated with warm and very wet summers (December–February) along the coasts of northern Peru and Ecuador, with major fl ooding. El Niño events also result in drier conditions in parts of Southeast Asia and parts of Australia, increasing bushfires.