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Article: Cousin of El Nino Haunts Indian Ocean.(climatology)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- September 25, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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For decades, climate researchers have regarded the Indian Ocean as a boring basin, lacking the commotion that El Nino and La Nina stir up in the Pacific. Now, two teams of scientists have independently identified the climatic kin of El Nino in the Indian Ocean, where it caused widespread weather problems in 1997.
The finding raises the hope that forecasters will soon learn to predict abnormal torrents and droughts in East Africa, India, and Indonesia.
"It's like we've found a raw gem. Now, we have to polish it and see how good it is," says Peter J. Webster of the University of Colorado at Boulder, the leader of one team. His group published its results ...