From: Bloomberg.com - December 26, 2008
Read Full Article: World Crops Threatened by Strengthening La Nina Weather Pattern | Bloomberg.com: Latin America
Grain and oilseed crops may be threatened next year by a weather pattern known as La Niña, according to a private forecaster.
La Niña conditions have developed rapidly across the equatorial Pacific Ocean during the past few weeks, said Drew Lerner, president of World Weather Inc. in Overland Park, Kansas. He said that may indicate more dry weather in parts of South America in the next three months and a wet, cold start to the U.S. planting season in March.
La Niña, which means “the little girl” in Spanish, is caused by lower-than-normal surface-water temperatures in the Pacific. It can trigger widespread changes in weather around the world, including a higher-than-normal number of hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean, Lerner said.
“The impact of La Niña conditions has already been noted in many areas, with more frequent rain in eastern Australia, wet weather in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines as well as a drier bias in southeastern parts of South America,” Lerner said in a Dec. 24 interview. “Confidence is quite strong that a full blown La Niña event is evolving.”
The current weather patterns are more similar to a mature La Niña instead of a developing event because the last episode faded in May, leaving behind residual atmospheric conditions, Lerner said. The pocket of unusually cool Pacific water has quickly expanded west and extends to a greater depth than usual, signaling a stronger impact on next year’s weather, he said.
“The colder surface temperatures become relative to normal, the higher the potential for La Niña and the stronger the event might become,” Lerner said. “Below-average precipitation will continue in eastern Argentina, Uruguay, far southern Brazil and a part of Paraguay, but not necessarily a full-blown drought and major crop losses.”
Related:
