Which impact results on global carbon cycling when El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) conditions intensify?

💡 Explanation

When ENSO intensifies, upwelling of nutrient-rich waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean decreases because trade winds weaken, leading to reduced phytoplankton productivity and CO2 absorption. Therefore decreased ocean carbon uptake results, rather than terrestrial sequestration, rock weathering, or sediment burial that rely on different processes and timescales.

• Which mechanism causes high-altitude subtropical streams (jet streams) to steer mid-latitude cyclonic storm systems?
• Which cave formation risk increases as rainfall decreases?
• Which risk increases when dust deflation lowers soil elevation?
• Which risk increases upon permafrost thaw affecting ice within rock fractures?
• Which process causes increased methane release from Arctic slopes experiencing thermokarst?
• Which effect increases as plastic debris accumulates in ocean gyres experiencing stratification?