Jin-Liang Wang

The orchestra has been playing in the Pacific Ocean for over a century. Some instruments carry a fast melody, others draw out a slow bass line, and together they create a pattern of warm and cold patches on the water's surface.

In the tropical Pacific, the ocean sometimes warms more than usual, sometimes cools. Fishermen off the coast of Peru noticed this centuries ago and named the warm phase El Niño, which means 'little boy,' because it arrived around Christmas. Today, these temperature swings affect weather across the planet: from droughts in Australia to downpours in California.