The FAO has issued a report which stated on poverty and diseases happening in Africa, due to El Nino and El Nina, where food shortage is at its highest rate in February, and extends until Spring. That is why we found out that clarifying this phenomenon might be useful for the reader to know more about its harms.
“El Nino” means the baby in Spanish, referring to Jesus Christ, and it is a phenomenon which takes place on Christmas, and continues for several months. “El Nino” was a word used by fishermen on the shores of Peru and Ecuador to point out to the warm currents and the heavy rain on the Pacific.
This phenomenon was widespread between 1997 and 1998, and caused enormous climate changes in the tropical areas of North America. Huge fires took place in Indonesia and Brazil, along with disasters and floods on the Latin American shores and East Africa. El Nino’s effect ended with a sudden freezing of the surface water of the Pacific, and this is considered the worst phenomenon in the 20th century, especially that it has overrode El Nino phenomenon which happened in 1982-1983.
El Nino is associated with a band of warm ocean water that develops in the central and east-central equatorial Pacific, while La Nina is formed by this warm water being moved to the east, from the Indian Ocean, Asia, Indonesia, and Australia, meaning that the change of temperature in one of the oceans affects the atmosphere in another far region. “La Nina” term is used if it caused cold changes.
“El Nino” is usually followed by “La Nina” which has opposite effects, but is similar in the harm it causes, meaning that, while “El Nino” takes place, huge amounts of warm weather are transferred from the oceans to the atmosphere. This is then followed by a decrease in the ocean’s temperatures, which means that “La Nina” phenomenon is happening. El Nino, which causes droughts, could be followed with floods due to La Nina in the following year, and they are phenomena which cause harmful effects at the same time, but oppositely. In general, La Nina, has less harmful effects for the climate than El Nino.
El Nino phenomenon has hit the economy of the poor countries, and its harmful effects have led to more poverty, along with lateness to development and growth in a number of countries around the world. Not only that, but when the tropical regions are affected by that phenomenon, the prices of coffee, rice, cocoa, and sugar will be affected as well. The harmful effects will not be on the poor countries only, but on the rich countries as well, due to the increase of prices of goods.
