It Seems to Be La Nina’s Turn
The United Nations weather agency said Monday that an extreme weather pattern known as La Nina is likely to intensify around the world in the coming months.
La Nina, Spanish for little girl, had been in the shadow of her more famous brother, El Nino, for much of this year as the latter, caused by a warming of the Pacific Ocean, brought record droughts and rains worldwide and destroyed crops.
But the World Meteorological Organization, or WMO, said that La Nina, linked to a faster than usual cooling of temperatures in the eastern Pacific, will bring heavier than usual rains to Southeast Asia, drier spells to South America and alternate periods of drought and flooding to Africa.
The Geneva-based WMO said that La Nina was to blame for recent rains in Australia and flash floods in Indonesia. La Nina is also responsible for enhanced hurricane activity over the Atlantic.
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