El Niño

El Niño, current that travels south along the Pacific coasts of Peru and Ecuador approximately every 4 years, warming the normally cold waters. The unusual warmth kills many fish and birds, and a particularly strong El Niño can cause severe storms and floods as far away as California.

In 1997 El Niño caused droughts in Indonesia and heavy rain and floods in East Africa. In the southeast of Africa there was less rain than usual, in the desert of Peru it rained, and Argentina and Paraguay experienced floods.