This phenomenon, caused by warming of the waters of the Eastern Pacific along the coast of South America, generated the heavy rain and floods which since January 2017 have hit northern Peru and southern Ecuador.
This currently localised effect is becoming a worldwide El Niño phenomenon, because of the rising water temperature in the Central and Western Pacific.
While El Niño appears irregularly every 2 to 7 years, generally beginning in the middle of the year and lasting 6 to 18 months, it last occurred less than two years ago, during the 2015-2016 season. This phenomenon reaches maximum intensity around Christmas: dry conditions develop in Indonesia and Australia, tropical storms and hurricanes appear further east than usual, while the Peruvian coasts see unusual precipitation, causing flooding and landslides.
During the El Niño phenomenon in 2015-2016, severe droughts hit the Caribbean zone, Colombia and Oceania in late 2015 and early 2016, followed by a period of intense rains in the Caribbean and two major cyclones: Matthew, in October 2016, caused significant damage in Jamaica, the French West Indies and Florida, while Otto, in November 2016, hit southern Nicaragua and northern Costa Rica.
Source: CIRAD
Click "Continue" to continue shopping or "See your basket" to complete the order.
