Climate Networks around the Globe are Significantly Effected by El Nino

The temperatures in different zones in the world do not show significant changes due to El-Nino except when measured in a restricted area in the Pacific Ocean. We find, in contrast, that the dynamics of a climate network based on the same temperature records in various geographical zones in the world is significantly influenced by El-Nino. During El-Nino many links of the network are broken, and the number of surviving links comprises a specific and sensitive measure for El-Nino events. While during non El-Nino periods these links which represent correlations between temperatures in different sites are more stable, fast fluctuations of the correlations observed during El-Nino periods cause the links to break.