The story of El Niņo 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 Niņo" ("el niņo" is Spanish for boy child). For a long time, El Niņo 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 Niņo and monsoon conditions in Southeast Asia. El Niņo 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 Un
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