The story of El Niño begins on the eastern margins of the Pacific Ocean. For centuries, Peruvian fishermen have known that the usually cold and nutrient rich waters from time to time become exceptionally warm, accompanied by collapsing fish stocks. At the same time, torrential rain and flooding of the rivers of the Andes occur. This abnormal situation returns every 3-7 years and, since the event usually peaks around Christmas, the fishermen named the phenomenon "El Niño" ("el niño" is Spanish for boy child). For a long time, El Niño was considered to be a weather phenomenon local to the countries of the western part of South America. Only early in the 20th century did scientists begin to realize that a relation exists between El Niño and monsoon conditions in Southeast Asia. El Niño is a result of interaction between the surface of the ocean and the atmosphere in the tropical Pacific. Changes in the ocean impact the atmosphere and climate patterns around the globe, which in turn, impact the ocean temperatures and currents. El Nino spread its effect around the world. It created a refugee crisis in northeast Kenya as tens of thousands of Somali, Ugandan, Ethiopian and Sudanese abandoned flooded camps. By November, the United Nations expected five million people in southern Africa would face famine in 1997/98. Parts of South America, particularly Ecuador, were hit by freak floods in November. Southern Californians were warned to prepare for one of the worst winters in recent history. El Nino drought is even blamed for helping to increase the cost of a cup of coffee, after affecting 1997/98 crops in Africa, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and parts of South America. But was this year of disaster simply a preview of more terrible El Nino's to come? Are we likely to see more El Niños because of global warming? Will they be more intense? These are the main research questions facing the s
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