Which of the following statements is/are correct? 1. The jet stream

Which of the following statements is/are correct?

  • 1. The jet streams are high altitude easterly winds.
  • 2. El Niño is a warm ocean current.
  • 3. El Niño appears along the Peru coast.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

1 only
2 and 3 only
1 and 3 only
1, 2 and 3
This question was previously asked in
UPSC CAPF – 2022
The correct option is B. Statements 2 and 3 are correct, while statement 1 is incorrect.
– Statement 1: The jet streams are high altitude winds, but they are typically strong, narrow currents of *westerly* winds in the upper troposphere. While there are tropical easterly jet streams, the general description of “the jet streams” refers to the dominant westerly flow at high altitudes. Therefore, stating they are “easterly winds” as a general characteristic is incorrect.
– Statement 2: El Niño is indeed a warm ocean current. It refers to the large-scale ocean-atmosphere climate interaction linked to a periodic warming of the sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean.
– Statement 3: El Niño appears along the Peru coast. The warming associated with El Niño is most prominent in the eastern equatorial Pacific, off the coasts of Ecuador and Peru.
– Jet streams play a significant role in influencing weather patterns globally.
– El Niño is the warm phase of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) climate pattern. Its opposite phase, La Niña, is characterized by unusually cold ocean temperatures in the same region.
– El Niño events have significant global climatic consequences, affecting rainfall patterns, temperatures, and extreme weather events in many parts of the world, including the Indian subcontinent (often associated with weaker monsoons).