UN body warns of El Nino, likely to impact monsoon

Karam Prakash

New Delhi, May 3

The world should get ready to face the impact of El Nino: a weather phenomenon associated with severe droughts in parts of South Asia, including India, Indonesia and Australia, warned the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), a specialised agency of the United Nations, on Wednesday.

The development of El Nino and negative impact thereof on the southwest monsoon is obviously a cause of concern for Indian farmers because farming heavily depends on it.

The Indian Metrological Department (IMD), however, said there was no negative relationship between El Nino and southwest monsoon.

The MET Department said there were instances when the southwest monsoon was normal despite El Nino conditions. Moreover, the IMD, last month, had forecasted a normal monsoon this year.

El Nino is a naturally occurring climate pattern associated with the warming of the ocean surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. It occurs on average every two to seven years and episodes usually last nine to 12 months. It can cause severe droughts in Australia, Indonesia and parts of southern Asia.