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# Long description

Figure 13 shows two images that show sea surface temperature anomalies during an El Niño as ‘heat maps’ of the globe. The heat maps use a rainbow colour scale to represent temperature changes, with areas coloured red showing a warming and violet showing a cooling.

Figure 13a shows the characteristic pattern of eastern Pacific warming. This global image shows a band coloured red across most of the equator in the Pacific Ocean, indicating temperature increases up to 4 °C.

Figure 13b shows the characteristic pattern of eastern Pacific and cooling. This global image shows a band coloured blue across most of the equator in the Pacific Ocean, indicating temperature decreases up to 4 °C.