Can't say what triggers temple building. Organized or State religion might do it. El Nino doesn't seem to have the right kind of stuff to cause temple building.
Some temples are symbolic, others could be meteorological. Some may have been survey markers. Some may have been schools of science, math, or history.
I'm going to stick with the idea that a change in sea level would change tides and currents like the Gulf Stream and El Nino.
Temple building is triggered by the fear of god(s). Any changes in the heavens would have been seen as actions of the gods. If those changes were followed by a cataclysmic event on earth such as an asteroid impact, it would certainly be considered as punishment. New temples and sacrifices would be required to appease the angry god(s), and prevent additional punishment. When you consider the fact that the Aztecs practiced human sacrifice until the soldiers of Imperial Spain invaded, the cultural "fear" must have been very deep seated indeed.
"Venus had a psychological effect upon the Maya and other Mesoamerican cultures, it has been shown that the Maya were timing some of their wars based on the stationary points of Venus and Jupiter. Humans were sacrificed on first appearance after Superior Conjunction when Venus was at its dimmest magnitude but they most feared the first Heliacal Rising after Inferior Conjunction." Quoted from This site