Astronomy Picture of the Day

Explanation: Goodbye El Niño. Hello La Niña? Scientists are watching to see if an evolving pool of relatively cool water in the mid-Pacific Ocean will develop into a full "La Niña". Over the past several months, the water temperature in the Equatorial Pacific Ocean has been doing a flip-flop. From being slightly warmer than normal in the winter, a condition called El Niño, much of this water is now slightly colder than normal, a condition that might develop into a La Niña - with global weather consequences. Pictured above is a false-color satellite image showing relative temperature in Equatorial Pacific taken earlier this month. The blue color indicates relatively cool water. Since little has changed since last month, it is possible that the situation has stabilized. The last two La Nina years were 1988 and 1995.

該跟聖嬰現象說再見，然後迎來反聖嬰現象嗎？ 科學家們正在觀察太平洋中部相對低溫的水體，看它是否會發展成完整的 "反聖嬰現象"。 在過去的幾個月之中，赤道太平洋的水溫一直在反轉。 從冬季比正常溫度略高的聖嬰現象，變成比正常溫度略低，或許會進一步能發展為反聖嬰現象，並對全球的天氣造成影響。 上圖是本月初拍攝的衛星影像，並以假色呈現赤道太平洋的相對溫度，其中藍色代表相對低溫的水。 由於自上個月以來幾乎沒有變化，所以情況有可能已經穩定下來。 最近的兩個反聖嬰年是1988年和1995年。