World updates
What are El Nino and La Nina?
In Spanish, La Nina means ‘little girl’ and El Niño means ‘little boy’.
Does the warming and cooling of ocean water in one region of the world affect the global temperature itself? The answer is affect. Under normal ocean conditions, trade winds travel west along the equator from South America to Asia. The movement of wind over the ocean causes a phenomenon known as upwelling. Upwelling is the rise of cooler water below the ocean surface to replace warmer surface water.
In the absence of upwelling, the surface of the Pacific Ocean would be warmer than normal. This will lead to El Nino. In India it is characterized by low rainfall, high temperature and drought. During La Niña, strong trade winds push warm water into Asia. This will lead to increased rainfall. El Nino, which started in June last year, is currently weak. By June, the ‘La Niña’ will form as the ‘El Nino Southern Oscillation’ ceases. Meteorologists predict that it will cause heavy rains and storms from August onwards, except for the eastern and northeastern parts of India. The indications are that the possibility of heavy rains waiting for Kerala cannot be ruled out.
