Concentrations of chlorophyll in the equatorial Pacific deviate from normal during El Niño events. These maps depict monthly average chlorophyll concentrations for June 2025 (top), under neutral conditions, and June 2026 (bottom), as El Niño was strengthening. Data come from the OCI (Ocean Color Instrument) on NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) satellite and are based on measurements of green and blue light from the ocean reflected back to the sensor.
Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison