Possibility of El Nino Striking This Year
When the weather gets worse, we have much to worry about. And this year many countries have to worry about El Nino. El Nino weather pattern is a weather pattern which triggers drought in some parts of the world while causing flooding in others, thus hitting the production of key foods such as rice, wheat and sugar.
El Nino is when the temperature of the sea surface warms up in the Pacific. This takes place every 4 to 12 years and the worst that has been recorded so far is in the late 1990s where more than 2,000 people were killed and much damage was caused to the locations where it hit. If El Nino comes on strongly this year it can wither out the crops in Australia, Southeast Asia, India and Africa while it causes heavy rainfall in other countries such as U.S. and Brazil.
As scientists go on about debating the intensity at which a potential El Nino might strike with, the U.S. Climate Prediction Center and Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology have warned of the increased chances that there will be an El Nino this year. According to the United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization, there is a possibility of a weak El Nino by the middle of 2014.
According to Vanessa Tan, an investment analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore, “the world is bracing for El Nino, which if confirmed could wreak havoc on supply and cause prices of some commodities to shoot up.” With the northern hemisphere having undergone a brutal winter season, there has already been disruption to supply as many crops. In fear that El Nino might cause much damage to areas such as Africa and Asia, the global prices for cocoa has increased 2-1/2 year peaks this months to avoid hitting a deficit. There is a possibility of other agricultural commodities following at an increased level if El Nino conditions are confirmed.
