Final answer:
La Niña is a climate pattern characterized by the cooling of sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean. It has significant impacts on weather patterns across the globe, leading to changes in precipitation and extreme weather events.
Step-by-step explanation:
La Niña is a climate pattern characterized by the cooling of sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean, opposite to El Niño which is associated with warming ocean temperatures. It is the cold phase of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and has significant impacts on weather patterns across the globe. During La Niña, areas such as the western coasts of South America experience cooler and wetter conditions, while other regions may have drier conditions or more extreme weather events like floods and hurricanes.
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