Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
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[31],
Fig
ure 3.2
The main world regions impacted by the warm phase or ENSO (from Ropelewski
an
d Halpert [1987]).
Line
——
0.0
——
Long
PgEn
The 1982-83 El Niño was one of the strongest events in the recorded
history. Virtually every continent was affected by this event. Some 1000-
2000 deaths were blamed on the event and the disasters that accompanied
it. The extreme drought in the Midwest Corn Belt of the United States
during 1988 has been linked to the “cold event” of 1988 that followed the
ENSO event of 1986-87 (Reibsame et al., 1990).
During an ENSO event, drought can occur virtually anywhere in the
world. First, the shift of the deep convection areas to the east over the
Pacific Ocean brings dry spells over much of the western Pacific countries,
and then the global atmospheric anomalies (due to ENSO) induce droughts
in places far from the Pacific Basin. The strongest connections between
ENSO and intense drought can be found in Australia, India, Indonesia,
the Philippines, parts of east and south Africa, the Western Pacific Basin is-
lands (including Hawaii), Central America, and various parts of the United
States.
Droughts occur due to below-normal precipitation, and a strong rela-
tionship exists between ENSO events and regional precipitation patterns
around the globe (Ropelewski and Halpert, 1987). In northeastern South
America, from Brazil up to Venezuela, El Niño brings heavy rains over
Peruvian coast of South America. In addition, ENSO events affect regions
in the lower latitudes, especially in the equatorial Pacific bordering tropi-
cal areas. The relationships in the mid-latitudes do not seem to be as pro-
nounced or consistent. El Niño affects regional precipitation and results
in wet or dry seasons. Indirectly, it produces significant impacts including
agricultural droughts. For instance, during the 1998 El Niño, crop short-
falls from the worst drought ever recorded in Indonesia forced the govern-
ment to import an unprecedented 6 million tons of rice to stave off social in-
stability in the country. The Philippines, affected by the same drought, had
[31],
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