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Article: El Niño and La Niña
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- Water:Science and Issues
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CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 The Gale Group 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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El Ni
ñ
o and La Ni
ñ
a
In 1982 and 1983 and again in 1997 and 1998, well-recorded El Ni
ñ
o events turned the world's weather upside down. The west coasts of the United States and Peru received record rainfall and flooding, while hurricanes raged in Mexico, Hawaii, and Tahiti. Severe drought and heat struck Australia, Asia, Indonesia, and Africa, causing crop failures, starvation, and forest fires.
El Ni
ñ
os are part of a recurring weather cycle that is beyond the control of humanity and appears to have occurred for millennia. Thanks to improved research abilities in recent years and the deployment of moored instruments to sense mid-ocean conditions, scientists are now able ...