Dry El Nino conditions persist in region

Dry El Nino conditions persist in region

Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Bangkok

The El Nino climate phenomenon will continue to bring dry
weather to Indonesia, Micronesia and northern and northeastern
Australia in early 2003, although with a lesser impact than in
1997-98, according to a report issued Thursday by the United
Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The report, distributed by the agency's regional office in
Bangkok, said major monitoring systems in the region had
confirmed "a virtually 100 percent probability of El Nino
conditions persisting in early 2003 (with) drier-than-average
conditions" expected to persist over most of these areas".

The FAO's February 2003 Food Outlook report said cereal grain
production in the Asia region decreased in 2002 because of a
sharp reduction in rice paddy crops.

The bulk of the decline was accounted for by the world's two
biggest rice producing countries, China and India.

The declines were attributed to erratic monsoon rains in the
region.

El Nino, meaning boy in Spanish, is an abnormal warming of
waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean. It changes global winds and
rain patterns, and usually happens once every two to seven years,
causing storms, droughts, floods and crop failures.

The 1997 El Nino was considered extreme as it caused prolonged
droughts in Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines, as well as
floods in Peru and Ecuador.

At least 300,000 hectares of forest in Sumatra and Kalimantan
caught fire and this was partly attributed to El Nino. The fires
resulted in an environmental disaster that sent smoky haze to
neighboring countries, in particular Malaysia.

Crop failures prompted a food crisis in many parts of
Indonesia.