El Niño and La Niña InvestigationNow that you have looked at several examples of questions and data, you should be able to develop your own research question. Use the following links to Guidelines For a Good Research Question and Researching a Hypothesis to assist you in developing three good questions and researching one of them.
Scenario
You are the scientific advisor for the leaders of Peru. One of your responsibilities is to notify these leaders of potential environmental hazards that may affect the economy. It is well documented that El Niño and La Niña events can dramatically effect the agricultural and fishing industries. Using historic climatological data from NOAA in the United States, make a prediction as to whether 2001-2002 will be an El Niño or La Niña year. Make future predictions for the next decade using what you know about SST and El Niño and La Niña cycles.Use these tables to help you determine El Niño and La Niña cycles
El Niño Years
1902-1903 1905-1906 1911-1912 1914-1915
1918-1919 1923-1924 1925-1926 1930-1931
1932-1933 1939-1940 1941-1942 1951-1952
1953-1954 1957-1958 1965-1966 1969-1970
1972-1973 1976-1977 1982-1983 1986-1987
1991-1992 1994-1995 1997-1998La Niña Years
1904-1905 1909-1910 1910-1911 1915-1916
1917-1918 1924-1925 1928-1929 1938-1939
1950-1951 1955-1956 1956-1957 1964-1965
1970-1971 1971-1972 1973-1974 1975-1976
1988-1989 1995-1996Use these SST maps to help you make your predictions.
Monthly Mean SST Charts (1984-1998)
http://www.osdpd.noaa.gov/PSB/EPS/SST/al_climo_mon.html
