Wildflower Bloom: El Niño brings life to Death Valley

Wildflower 'superbloom' in Death Valley

I recently wrote about how UCLA is not only a brilliant place to study Geography, but is also located in fabulous region to study the geography of. Having learned about the marine layer in my EPS 9 class, I was thrilled to wake up one morning and experience the weather event firsthand. Another such phenomenon I have been fortunate enough to witness while studying in Southern California has been the El Niño Southern Oscillation.

Occurring roughly every two to seven years, El Niño is characterised by abnormal weather conditions. These include increased temperatures and rainfall on both coasts of the Pacific, alongside other unusual weather events around the world. This is caused by prolonged heating of the central and east-central band of the Pacific Ocean which replaces the cool surface waters of the Humboldt Current. Arguably as a result of climate change, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA 2016) has reported the current El Niño episode as being the strongest in history.

El Niño weather conditions are known for having severe impacts on agriculture and health, especially in developing countries in Central and South America. Thus a stronger episode will likely have a harsh outcome for many. However in Southern California a silver lining has appeared in El Niño's thick clouds: an unprecedented amount of unseasonal rainfall has caused a rare wildflower bloom in Death Valley, covering it's usually barren desert landscape with a glorious sea of glowing yellow.

A 'superbloom' of this scale is exceptional and relies on a selection of rare weather events occurring in perfect conjunction with each other. These include strong desert winds early on to spread the seeds, light winter rainfall to clear a layer of mud and expose them for growth, and heavy spring rainfall to hydrate them and encourage growth. All enabled by the strength of the current El Niño episode, these factors have resulted in a magnificent bloom which has drawn people from across California and even the rest of the US to bear its witness.

Desert Gold (Geraea canescens)

As the current spell of El Niño weather conditions bring life to Death Valley, I am once again reminded of how fortunate I am to study abroad and experience the subjects of my geographical studies first hand.

References

Ashok, K. and T. Yamagata (2009) 'The El Nino with a difference', Nature, 461, 7263: 481-484.

NOAA (2016) 'February 2016 El Niño Update' (WWW), Silver Spring: NOAA (https://www.climate.gov/news-features/blogs/enso/february-2016-el-niño-update-q-a…and-some-thursday-morning-quarterbacking; 7 March 2016).