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El Niño is likely to return in the next few months, but it is too
early to predict its impact or how long it could last. Climate scientists at the
US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say they have identified the
first signs of this climatic phenomenom—higher than normal amounts of
cloud and precipitation over the equatorial central Pacific. El Niño
occurs every two to seven years, when cold water in the eastern Pacific around
Ecuador and Peru becomes unusually warm. This can trigger a switch in weather
patterns, with potentially disastrous consequences. The last El Niño
caused extensive flooding in Peru and Ecuador and droughts in Papua New Guinea,
the Philippines and Indonesia.