El Niño is causing havoc in Central America, Asia and Africa
By Everton Gayle
11/02 15:43 CET
| updated xx mn ago
| updated at 11/02 - 18:30
1455215409
1455201822
ESA’s Sentinel programme watches the world to keep us safe18/02 16:52
Gravitational waves and the quest for the ‘Big Bang’ soundwave16/02 12:44
Citizens and scientists earn their stripes counting Kenya’s Grevy’s zebras15/02 14:24
Zika virus – race on in the battle to find a vaccine10/02 12:56
ESA’s Sentinel-3 full speed ahead for lift-off08/02 14:39
Zika: the facts so far behind the virus01/02 14:47
Climate change: UN report confirms 2015 hottest year since records began28/01 16:11
The praying mantis with 3D glasses25/01 14:53
Vultures help combat illegal garbage dumps in Peru21/01 16:47
Being plugged in 24/7 causes stress and anxiety18/01 15:20
Bronze Age ‘Pompeii’ discovered in England14/01 15:05
Finding space on earth13/01 12:00
United Arab Emirates to launch space mission to Mars15/12/15 15:23
The stellarator: a cool name for a mad hot fusion reactor10/12/15 14:15
Tracking the gases in the Amazon Rainforest02/12/15 12:16
China resettles drought-afflicted residents30/11/15 14:04
Drones playing a crucial part in helping the Spanish Ibex goats.25/11/15 13:25
Monte Rosa Glacier shrinking fast say scientists23/11/15 12:00
Observatories combine to create a virtual telescope the size of the Earth19/11/15 11:40
Champagne adopts methods to defend the fizz from climate change16/11/15 12:17PreviousNext
smaller_textlarger_text
El Niño is having a disastrous effect on countries in Central America, parts of Africa and Asia, which have been hit by a drought that is generating a severe food crisis.
In Haiti, 3.6 million people are facing food insecurity with farmers losing a significant part of the harvest.
Roger Bonifacio, a World Food Programme climate expert, says this has been caused by El Niño that started in 2015, but he says: “Its effects however will be felt all the way to early 2017 and its effects have been widespread geographically. El Niño has caused impacts on the growing seasons of Central America – Haiti.
“Ethiopia where it registered one of the driest seasons in the last 50 years all the way to Indonesia and Papua New Guinea which again has suffered one of the major droughts on record.”
The 2015 El Niño, was one of the strongest ever, and more powerful than the record event in 1997. The phenomenon occurs every three to five years on average, when the equatorial waters of the Pacific Ocean warm significantly and impact global weather patterns.
In Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous country, ten million are facing the consequences of the worst drought in 50 years.
The country says it will need hundreds of millions in food aid over the coming weeks to prevent a “catastrophic escalation” in malnutrition.
Meanwhile Zimbabwe has declared a state of disaster in parts of the country.
According to reports, as many as 2.4 million people – almost a quarter of the country’s population – are in need of food aid as the drought has adversely affected crop supplies.
The crisis could also impact the hydro-power generation potential of certain countries, such as Zimbabwe, which gets one-third of its electricity need from this source.
By Everton GayleMore about:
Drought
Global warming and climate change
Weather
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário