ENSO Events Research Articles

Mesozooplankton and environmental variation during the 2009-2010 ENSO event on the north coast of the Río de la Plata estuary

Previous studies have demonstrated that macro-scale climatic events such as ENSO, cause changes in meteorological and hydrological conditions, inducing physicochemical changes in the water column, as well as in coastal and estuarine communities in the Atlantic Ocean. Rio de la Plata (RdlP) is the second largest estuary of South America, where ENSO is a macro-scale environmental driving force. In this paper, the species composition, abundance, as well as the temporal and horizontal variation of the mesozooplankton in the north coast of the RdlP during 2009-2010 ENSO were analyzed. Zooplankton samples were collected with sub-surface trawls in fifteen stations during eleven sampling surveys. Physico-chemical parameters of the water column (temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, and chlorophyll a) were determined and related to the RdlP flows. The holoplankton was dominated by estuarine copepod (Acartia tonsa), freshwater cladocerans (Bosmina hagmanni, Ceriodaphnia dubia, Moina sp.), and in the meroplankton, barnacle larvae were the most abundant group. Temporal variability was reflected in abundance differences and ecological indexes between both ENSO phases. The copepods abundance showed a positive association with RdlP flow during El Niño (Nov 2009-Apr 2010), and negative during La Niña-Neutral (Sep 2010-Jan 2011). During El Niño months, the higher richness of typical freshwater cladocerans was observed, promoting a horizontal heterogeneity in the study area. During La Niña-Neutral, the zooplankton showed lower species richness and was dominated by copepods typical of the RdlP (Acartia tonsa). Canonical Correspondence Analysis showed that salinity, RdlP flow, and chlorophyll a explained 88.4% of the total variance of the species-environment relationships. This paper presents new information on zooplanktonic organisms’ response to climatic and hydrological events in the RdlP estuary.

Oceanic embodiments: Living ENSO events in coastal Timor-Leste

• Extreme weather events reproduce conditions of displacement and colonial violence. • Adaptive practices delineate discontinuities in subsistence resources and inform ways of conceptualising adaptive geographies. • Adaptive practices in adult participant groups evidence a retreat from coastal regions to traditional highland areas. • Youth participants instead envision a more resilient and regenerated coastscape. • Approaches to adaptation across groups inform a decolonial approach to adaptation governance.

Impact of ENSO on variability of global CO2 concentration retrievals from GOSAT and AIRS

The correlations between the growth rate of atmospheric CO2 concentrations and the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events are well known. However, investigations of the influence EN-SO events on global CO2 concentrations remain poorly constrained in space. Here, we employ atmospheric CO2 concentrations retrieved from the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT) and the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) to investigate the impact of ENSO events on the spatial patterns during July 2009–April 2014. Empirical orthogonal function decomposition was applied to the CO2 concentration series and it showed that the spatial patterns of the GOSAT data compare well with those of the AIRS data. GOSAT and AIRS CO2 concentrations exhibit a significant in-crease during warm ENSO episodes. Furthermore, we directly observed significant variations be-tween the two datasets in the onset and mature phases of ENSO. Specifically, during the onset phase, the GOSAT CO2 concentration decreases more remarkably over high latitudes compared with the AIRS data. During the mature stage, the GOSAT CO2 concentration is reduced over the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, whereas the AIRS CO2 concentration is reduced over North Asia and enhanced over the Pacific Ocean. The differences between the GOSAT and AIRS data for the ENSO decay phase are small. Using the high-resolution spatial and temporal observations available from GOSAT and AIRS data, our study demonstrates that the impact of ENSO on CO2 spatial patterns is significant and requires further investigation.

Assessing Seasonal Predictability Sources and Windows of High Predictability in the Climate Forecast System, Version 2

The representation of ENSO and NAO are examined in the Climate Forecast System, version 2 (CFSv2), reforecasts with a focus on the physical processes related to teleconnections and predictability. CFSv2 predicts ENSO well, but an eastward shift of the tropical Pacific sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies is evident. Although it appears minor on the global scale, the shift in convection and the large-scale wave train affects the model prediction of regional climate. In contrast, NAO is predicted poorly. The anomaly correlation coefficient (ACC) between the model ensemble mean and the observation is 0.27 during 1982–2010, and the ensemble spread is large. The representation of three sources of NAO predictability—SST, the stratospheric polar vortex, and the Arctic sea ice concentration—is investigated. It is found that the link between tropical Pacific SST and NAO is not well represented in CFSv2, and that the tropospheric–stratospheric interactions are too weak, both contributing to the poor prediction of NAO. Additionally, the impact of ENSO and NAO on prediction skill of CFSv2 in boreal winter is analyzed in terms of the spatial ACC of geopotential height. Active ENSO events exhibit larger prediction skill than neutral years, especially during the ENSO+/NAO− and ENSO−/NAO+ winters. Spatial patterns of prediction skill are also examined, and larger skill of geopotential height and 2-m air temperature is found outlined by the nodes of the PNA pattern, consistent with the large signal-to-noise ratios associated with the ENSO teleconnection.

Monolog drzewa huarango. Rozwój kultury Nazca w perspektywie bioarcheologicznej

Huarango tree monologue: Nazca culture development in the bioarchological perspectivePresented article provides a multi-faceted study of the factors that have led to the emergence, development and disappearance of the well-known early intermediate period Nazca culture. Obtained results clearly indicate that the cause of this complex and long-lasting civilization changes of an evolutionary nature were largely the environmental impact and climate changes at the turn of early intermediate period and middle horizon resulting from both external factors effects of the Super ENSO and human activity, such as the huarango copses deforestation. In this context, it is worth emphasizing the importance of widely understood paleoecological analyzes and bioarchaeological studies that are part of the so-called environmental archaeology — transdisciplinary research conducted in close cooperation with specialists from various scientific disciplines.

Drought characterization for the state of Rio de Janeiro based on the annual SPI index: trends, statistical tests and its relation with ENSO

Drought indices allow for the characterization of drought events, being the most widely used the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), which is recommended by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) as the standard drought index. The objectives of this study are: i) to characterize the variation of annual SPI index in the state of Rio de Janeiro from 1979 to 2009; ii) to relate ENSO events with the variation of the annual SPI; iii) to identify possible significant trends of rainfall increase and reduction based on the annual SPI; and iv) characterize drought evolution in the SRJ in the 1979–2009 period (Appendix A). For the SPI calculation, a monthly time series with 31 consecutive years was used, based on rainfall data from 99 rainfall stations distributed in eight government regions. Annual SPI data was presented using maps created with ArcGIS software version 10.2.2 and all statistical procedures were calculated in the R environment software. The Shapiro-Wilk (SW) and Bartlett (B) tests characterized rainfall data as being mostly normal and non-homogeneous. The annual SPI showed that the Center South region experienced the highest continuous dry period between 1999 and 2000 and 2002–2003. The annual SPI was assessed with the Mann-Kendall (MK), Curvature Sen (magnitude) and Pettitt (abrupt inflection) tests. The MK test indicated significant trends of annual rainfall increase in the North and Mountainous regions, and significant reduction trends in the Mountainous and Center South regions. Pettitt's test indicated significant abrupt changes in the North, Center South and Mountainous regions. The Curvature Sen test revealed that stations Dois Rios (North) and Cordeiro (Mountainous) registered a greater magnitude in the increase and reduction of the annual SPI, respectively.

Relationship between drought/flood and ENSO events in Southwest China

Relationship between drought/flood and ENSO events in Southwest China

Assessing socio-economic drought evolution characteristics and their possible meteorological driving force

Droughts are among the most damaging environmental disasters that may have destructive damages on societal properties and lives. Generally, socio-economic drought occurs when water resources systems could not fulfil the water demand. Additionally, it is not to be overlooked the role of local reservoirs in modifying uneven distribution of water and coping with climatic extremes. This study examined the evolution characteristics of the socio-economic droughts via applying a Multivariate Standardized Reliability and Resilience Index (MSRRI). Furthermore, the influences of anomalous atmospheric circulation on the socio-economic droughts were explored through adopting the cross wavelet analysis to investigate the meteorological driving force behind the socio-economic droughts. Results mainly indicated that (1) the MSRRI has proven to be effective in evaluating socio-economic droughts for its integration of inflow-demand reliability and water storage resilience indexes; (2) the MSRRI series in Datong River Basin (DRB) has a non-significant increasing trend at annual scale with apparent periods (17 and 22 years) and (3) the comprehensive effects of ENSO, EASM and PNA contribute to the socio-economic drought variations, and the ENSO has strongest impacts than others. The findings in this study benefit local socioeconomic drought mitigation and water resources planning and management.

Spatio-Temporal Assessment of Vegetation Resource Dynamics in Nigeria from SPOT Satellite Imageries

Vegetation resources in Nigeria are of vital importance for the sustainable development of the country. However, this essential resource is in danger due to the effect of anthropogenic and climate induced impacts. Currently desert encroachment which cuts across the Sahel is affecting most of the states in the northern part of the country particularly the eleven states considered by the Federal Ministry of Environment in Nigeria as the frontline states. Several studies on the Nigerian environment have shown that there are serious threats to the general environment particularly vegetation. Due to population growth and the need for housing as well as the expansion of the over-utilised farmlands across these states, places considered as reserved areas across the country are being exploited to the detriment of the vegetal resources particularly the forest and rangeland areas. This study utilized Idrisi TerrSet (version 18) raster-based remote sensing and GIS software to analyse seventy two (72) dekadal Normalised Vegetation Index (NDVI) imageries from SPOT satellite covering Nigeria in order to assess the anthropogenic and likely climatic impacts on the vegetal resources using the forward t-mode Principal Component Analysis (PCA) with standardised principal components. Results indicated that Component 1 which explains about 69% of the 72 time-series NDVI imageries shows typical vegetation cover over the study area within the time period under study. While component two indicated a cyclic trend differentiating the ENSO events of 1999 and 2009; component three indicated positive anomaly pattern of vegetation NDVI mostly within Sokoto, Kebbi, Kano, Jigawa and the northern parts of Bauchi, Yobe and Borno states. However, Component four imagery indicated a likely link to the 2009 flood that affected Kainji dam and rivers Niger and Benue. For a better result, the integration of socio-economic and high spatial resolution data into an assessment of this kind in future studies is encouraged.

Influence of ENSO events on the hydrogen and oxygen isotopes of precipitation in the middle and lower reaches of Pearl River

Influence of ENSO events on the hydrogen and oxygen isotopes of precipitation in the middle and lower reaches of Pearl River

Impacts of the combined modes of the tropical Indo‐Pacific sea surface temperature anomalies on the tropical cyclone genesis over the western North Pacific

This work presents two combined modes of the summer sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTAs) in the tropical Indo‐Pacific Ocean during 1979–2015 and investigates their influences on the tropical cyclone (TC) genesis frequency (TCGF) over the western North Pacific (WNP). The first mode (referred to as ENSO‐IODM) features Indian Ocean dipole (IOD) SSTAs in the tropical Indian Ocean (TIO) and El Niño‐like SSTAs in the tropical Pacific Ocean (TPO) and often appears during the ENSO phase persistence summers. It usually triggers an anomalous cyclone and more TCs over the southeastern WNP together with an anomalous anticyclone and fewer TCs over the northwestern WNP. These are primarily attributed to the effect of the El Niño‐like SSTAs over the TPO. The second mode (referred to as ENM‐IOBM) is characterized by Indian Ocean basin (IOB) positive SSTAs in the TIO and La Niña Modoki‐like (ENSO Modoki; ENM) SSTAs in the TPO and often presents during the ENSO phase transition summers. The combined effects of the IOBM and ENM SSTAs induce an anomalous anticyclone over the WNP that significantly suppresses TC genesis over the central WNP.The impacts of the two combined modes on the WNP TCGF also reveal inter‐decadal changes with significant weakening of the ENSO‐IODM and strengthening of the ENM‐IOBM around the early 1990s. These are attributed to the weakened variability of the ENSO‐IODM and intensified variability of the ENM‐IOBM around the early 1990s, and show largely association with the changes in the ENSO cycle. Most of the ENSO events prior to the early 1990s show a long decaying phase with persistence features but exhibit a short decaying phase even with phase transition after the early 1990s. This brings more ENSO‐IODM structures in the summer TIPO SSTAs before the early 1990s and more ENM‐IOBM structures during the latter period, and thereby results in such above inter‐decadal changes.

A comprehensive study about alongshore wave energy flux in the coast of Buenos Aires, Argentina

Alongshore wave energy flux (Pl) was analysed for the coast of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Pl is frequently used to estimate the alongshore sediment transport rate. Pl was estimated from simulated offshore wave parameters obtained from a validated regional SWAN model forced by NCEP/NCAR I, NCEP/DOE II, ERA-Interim and JRA-25 global reanalysis for the year 2005. It was obtained that Pl flows eastwards/northeastwards and increases irregularly from Bahia Blanca to Mar del Plata. Negative and positive space imbalances in Pl along the coast could explain the natural erosive and constructive processes detected between Mar del Plata and Punta Medanos. High inter-annual variability was noted in Pl data series computed from simulated wave parameters using SWAN model forced by NCEP/NCAR I for the period 1980–2012. Anomalous Pl values were detected in 1983, 1993 and 1998 which are in agreement with reported ENSO events. Concluding, the applied methodology seems to constitute a very reasonable alternative to study the space and time variability of Pl at the Buenos Aires coast, between Bahia Blanca and Punta Medanos.

Correction to 'ENSO effects on the transpiration of eastern Amazon trees'.

You have accessMoreSectionsView PDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail Cite this article Brum Mauro, López Jose Gutiérrez, Asbjornsen Heidi, Licata Julian, Pypker Thomas, Sanchez Gilson and Oliveira Rafael S. 2019Correction to ‘ENSO effects on the transpiration of eastern Amazon trees’Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B3742018055120180551http://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2018.0551SectionYou have accessCorrectionCorrection to ‘ENSO effects on the transpiration of eastern Amazon trees’ Mauro Brum Mauro Brum Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , Jose Gutiérrez López Jose Gutiérrez López Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , Heidi Asbjornsen Heidi Asbjornsen Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , Julian Licata Julian Licata Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , Thomas Pypker Thomas Pypker Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , Gilson Sanchez Gilson Sanchez Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author and Rafael S. Oliveira Rafael S. Oliveira Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author Mauro Brum Mauro Brum Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , Jose Gutiérrez López Jose Gutiérrez López Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , Heidi Asbjornsen Heidi Asbjornsen Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , Julian Licata Julian Licata Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , Thomas Pypker Thomas Pypker Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author , Gilson Sanchez Gilson Sanchez Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author and Rafael S. Oliveira Rafael S. Oliveira Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author Published:03 December 2018https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2018.0551This article corrects the followingResearch ArticleENSO effects on the transpiration of eastern Amazon treeshttps://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2018.0085 Mauro Brum, Jose Gutiérrez López, Heidi Asbjornsen, Julian Licata, Thomas Pypker, Gilson Sanchez and Rafael S. Oiveira volume 373issue 1760Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences08 October 2018Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B373, 20180085. (Published 8 October 2018). (doi:10.1098/rstb.2018.0085)The name of the final author, Rafael Oliveira, was spelt incorrectly as ‘Oiveira’. Therefore, the author list should appear as follows:Mauro Brum, Jose Gutiérrez López, Heidi Asbjornsen, Julian Licata, Thomas Pypker, Gilson Sanchez and Rafael S. Oliveira Previous Article VIEW FULL TEXT DOWNLOAD PDF FiguresRelatedReferencesDetailsRelated articlesENSO effects on the transpiration of eastern Amazon trees08 October 2018Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences This Issue21 January 2019Volume 374Issue 1764Theme issue ‘Salt in freshwaters: causes, ecological consequences and future prospects’ compiled and edited by Miguel Cañedo Argüelles, Ben Kefford and Ralf B. Schäfer Article InformationDOI:https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2018.0551Published by:Royal SocietyPrint ISSN:0962-8436Online ISSN:1471-2970History: Published online03/12/2018Published in print21/01/2019 License:© 2018 The Author(s)Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved. Citations and impact

Effects of ENSO on precipitation in Mexico City

Se estudia la relación que existe entre el Fenómeno de El Niño-Oscilación del Sur, caracterizado por el Índice Multivariado del ENOS, y la precipitación en la Ciudad de México en escala anual. Se estudia también su comportamiento espacial y temporal durante el periodo 1950-2010 encontrándose que en el periodo de estudio el promedio anual de la lluvia no presenta tendencia lineal pero si un ciclo de variación. Se usan tablas de contingencia y la prueba Ji-cuadrada para rechazar la hipótesis de independencia entre la precipitación y el fenómeno ENOS. Además, se utilizó la técnica de remuestreo de bootstrap, encontrando que la fase negativa de ENOS disminuye la precipitación en la Ciudad de México; la fase neutra aumenta la precipitación y disminuye la probabilidad de que la precipitación sea inferior al valor mediano. Durante la fase positiva, la precipitación no se ve significativamente afectada.

CLIMATE INDICATORS FOR A WATERSHED IN THE EASTERN AMAZON

Abstract : The present study compares the climatological normals for periods of 36 and 34 years (interpolated data) and observed precipitation and air temperature data (2015 and 2016) for four weather stations located within the boundaries of the Itacaiunas River Watershed (IRW), with the historical data from the Maraba station in the eastern Amazon used as control data. Both the interpolated and observed data were validated with the control data. The quantile technique was used to identify annual precipitation intensity thresholds and seasonal periods. A comparison was made with the precipitation and air temperature data to determine the effects of ENSO events during the period from 1980 to 2016. Our results regarding annual variability showed that the Onca Puma station was the rainiest among the subareas studied. The month of March was characterized as the rainiest month, and July was the least rainy for the watershed area. The influence of ENSO events on air temperature occurred in the early years, from 1980 to 2003, and the stronger events had a greater influence on precipitation in the IRW area. The 2015/16 El Nino may have had a more pronounced effect on the rainfall behavior at the Fazenda Abadia and Sossego stations. In the Salobo station (forest area), there was a delay in precipitation curves related to the occurrence of ENSO events, which may be associated with temporal variations in the dynamics of soil-vegetation-atmosphere interactions.

Reconstrucción de algunas sequías a través de anillos de crecimiento para el norte de México

El impacto histórico de las sequías en la estabilidad social y económica de la población en el norte de México demanda de un mejor conocimiento de la variabilidad interanual y multianual del clima, que afecta particularmente la disponibilidad hídrica y, por ende, la producción de alimentos, así como para el propio consumo humano. De esta forma, los análisis dendroclimáticos pueden definir la frecuencia de estas sequías extremas, su comportamiento pasado y sus tendencias; por ello, se emplearon como proxy los anillos de crecimiento de Pseudotsuga menziesii, con el objetivo de analizar la variabilidad hidroclimática en tres estados del norte de México. Se desarrollaron tres series de tiempo dendrocronológicas de anillo total con una extensión de 75 a 99 años, que mostraron una intercorrelación entre series en un intervalo de 0.56 a 0.72. La reconstrucción de precipitación invierno-primavera indicó gran variabilidad interanual y decenal de los patrones de precipitación para las áreas de estudio. Sequías severas se reconstruyeron para los periodos (1919 a 1924, 1948 a 1963, 1969 a 1979, 1988 a 2001 y del 2008 al 2014). Al analizar la variabilidad de fenómenos de circulación general como El Niño Oscilación del Sur en las áreas de estudio se obtuvieron correlaciones positivas que variaron de 0.40 a 0.41, lo cual supone que, a pesar de la distancia entre sitios (mayor de 500 km en línea recta), fue posible identificar periodos de sequía comunes, los cuales demostraron los efectos que tiene la tele-conexión de El Niño en la variabilidad hidroclimática para el norte de México.

Spectral trend of vegetation with rainfall in events of El Niño-Southern Oscillation for Atlantic Forest biome, Brazil.

This study aimed to analyze the spectral trend of vegetation with rainfall in El Niño-Southern Oscillation events (ENSO) in the Atlantic Forest, Brazil. Monthly rainfall data were collected from 85 conventional meteorological stations (EMC), data from the Enhanced Vegetation Index 2 (EVI2) and ENSO events (El Niño, La Niña, and Neutral) in the period from 2001 to 2013. Afterwards, state cluster analysis was performed using the results of non-parametric tests. The Mann-Kendall (MK) non-parametric test did not identify a trend pattern in rainfall distribution in the Atlantic Forest. The results for EVI2 by state and region showed that the trend is decreasing in the Northeast Region, except for the states of Alagoas and Pernambuco. Southeast region showed an increasing trend of EVI2 (except for Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo), while the South region showed a decreasing trend. In the Midwest, the trend was significantly decreasing. In the prognosis elaborated for the future, the regions with significant declines of the vegetation were the Northeast and Midwest. This study shows that the Atlantic Forest in some regions of Brazil has been suffering from the growing urbanization process and there is a trend of soil degradation.

Effect of ENSO on the distribution and concentration of catches and reproductive activity of anchovy Engraulis ringens in northern Chile

AbstractAnchovy makes up 90% of pelagic fishery catches in northern Chile. For the present work, anchovy (Engraulis ringens, Jenyns 1842) catches between 1997 and 2016 were analyzed to determine changes in distribution, concentration, and reproductive behavior before, during, and after ENSO events, using spatial indexes: gravity center (GC), inertia, coverage (CI), Gini index, and gonadosomatic index (GI). At the start of ENSO, anchovy catches increased and concentrated along the coast (rising Gini index), while CI decreased. During ENSO, Gini decreased, registering a southward displacement of the GC and smaller catches. In the long run, anchovy occupied lesser area (<CI) starting from 2008, concentrating in coastal areas. It developed a size structure composed mainly of specimens smaller than 17.0 cm. In addition, specimens < 12.0 cm were positively correlated with thermal anomalies, CI and MEI, reaching more than 60% of the catches during the 1997–1998 and 2015–2016 ENSO cycles. Results suggest that the warm phase of ENSO alters the anchovies’ reproductive activity, delaying its onset up to 4 weeks, and reducing GI intensity to 50%, due to increased participation in the reproductive process of individuals 12.0–13.5 cm. Therefore, large‐scale environmental processes, such as ENSO, significantly affect size structure and contribute to reduction of occupied area and higher reproductive activity of small‐size anchovies.

ENSO and eucheumatoid algae cultivation in China

The outbreaks of ice-ice disease and Epiphytic Filamentous Algae (EFA) on eucheumatoid algae have a close relationship with environmental factors. El Nino together with the corresponding atmospheric Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the most influential natural climate pattern on Earth. The relationship between the outbreaks of ice-ice disease and EFA on eucheumatoid algae with ENSO was investigated from the perspective of environmental conditions in Lian Bay, Lingshui, China. The low salinity and high temperature during August to October were dangerous for the cultivation of eucheumatoid algae in Lian Bay, especially in La Nina years. The possibility of disease and EFA would be decreased if the algae were cultured in deeper water. We suggest that the algae be cultured in deeper water in the La Nina years in Lian Bay, Lingshui from August to October. Based on the results of this study, future research should pay more attention to the relationship between ENSO and exceptional events in fisheries and aquaculture. Such information will be essential for developing appropriate strategies to predict the timing of exceptional events and help control their impacts.

Extreme Sea Level Rise off the Northwest Coast of the South China Sea in 2012

Tide gauge data are used to investigate sea level variability off the northwest coast of the South China Sea (SCS) in 2012, and a significant sea level elevation with a magnitude approaching 79 mm is observed. Analysis suggests that an abnormal sea surface heat flux and freshwater flux may have contributed to this abnormal rise in sea level, together with the remote influence of an ENSO event. Further investigation shows that the event was dominated by the positive freshwater flux, where large volumes of water entered the ocean, and a maximum is centered to the south of Guangdong province, China. Simultaneously, a positive anomalous heat flux occurred in the northwestern part of the SCS, which is considered to have made a positive contribution to the high local sea level elevation. In addition to the heat flux, the ENSO event also had a significant effect on the event, where the La Nina-induced northwest Pacific cyclone contributed to sea level rise over the northwestern SCS through dynamic and thermodynamic interactions.