El Nińo - Nature’s Vicious Cycle
By Curt Suplee
National Geographic Magazine
It rose out of the tropical Pacific in late 1997, bearing more energy than a million
Hiroshima bombs. By the time it had run its course eight months later, the giant El Nińo of
1997-98 had deranged weather patterns around the world, killed an estimated 2,100 people,
and caused at least 33 billion [U.S.] dollars in property damage.
Isaias Ipanaqué Silva knew none of that. All he and the other peasant farmers in the Peruvian
hamlet of Chato Chico could see was that after weeks of incessant rain the adjacent Piura
River had not stopped rising. The rainfall itself was no surprise. Every three to seven years,
for as long as anyone could remember, the same rainfall had arrived after a pool of hot
seawater the size of Canada appeared off the west coast of the Americas. The ocean would
heat up right around Christmastime, so fishermen called the phenomenon El Nińo, for the
Christ Child. Then that titanic storm source would pour vast amounts of precipitation onto
Peru’s normally arid northwestern coast.
But few had ever seen this much rain — five or six inches a day in some places.
Peru was where it all began, but El Nińo’s abnormal effects on the main components of
climate — sunshine, temperature, atmospheric pressure, wind, humidity, precipitation, cloud
formation, and ocean currents — changed weather patterns across the equatorial Pacific
and in turn around the globe. Indonesia and surrounding regions suffered months of
drought. Forest fires burned furiously in Sumatra, Borneo, and Malaysia, forcing drivers to
use their headlights at noon. The haze traveled thousands of miles to the west into the
ordinarily sparkling air of the Maldive Islands, limiting visibility to half a mile [0.8
kilometer] at times.
Temperatures reached 108°F [42°C] in Mongolia; Kenya’s rainfall was 40 inches [100
centimeters] above normal; central Europe suffered record flooding that killed 55 in Poland
and 60 in the Czech Republic; and Madagascar was battered with monsoons and cyclones. In
the U.S. mudslides and flash floods flattened communities from California to Mississippi,
storms pounded the Gulf Coast, and tornadoes ripped Florida.
By the time the debris settled and the collective misery was tallied, the devastation had in
some respects exceeded even that of the El Nińo of 1982-83, which killed 2,000 worldwide
and caused about 13 billion dollars in damage.
Word Definition
vicious unpleasantly strong or severe
cycle a number of related events that happen again and again in the same order
rise out of begin in and spread from
bear to carry someone or something
run its course if something runs its course, it continues in the way you expect until it has
finished
giant extremely big, and much bigger than other things of the same type
derange to change in a crazy or dangerous way
weather pattern the regular way in which weather happens, or develops
cause to make something happen, especially something bad
property the thing or things that someone owns
damage physical harm that is done to something, so that it is broken
peasant a poor farmer who owns or rents a small amount of land, either in past times or in
poor countries
incessant continuing without stopping
adjacent a room, building, piece of land etc that is adjacent to something is next to it
rainfall the amount of rain that falls on an area in a particular period of time
pool an area of liquid on a surface
heat up to become warm or hot, or to make something become warm or hot
phenomenon something that happens or exists in society, science, or nature, especially
something that is studied because it is difficult to understand
titanic very big, strong, impressive etc
storm a period of very bad weather when there is a lot of rain or snow, strong winds
pour to rain heavily without stopping
vast extremely large
precipitation rain, snow etc that falls on the ground, or the amount of rain, snow etc that falls
arid arid land or an arid climate is very dry because it has very little rain
abnormal very different from usual in a way that seems strange, worrying, wrong, or
dangerous
component one of several parts that together make up a whole machine, system etc
pressure a condition of the air in the Earth's atmosphere, which affects the weather
humidity the amount of water contained in the air cloud
formation cloud that is formed in a particular shape, or the shape in which it is formed
current a continuous movement of water in a river, lake, or sea
equatorial near the equator (an imaginary line drawn around the middle of the Earth that is
exactly the same distance from the North Pole and the South Pole)
in turn as a result of something
globe the world
surrounding near or around a particular place
drought a long period of dry weather when there is not enough water for plants and animals
to live
furiously with a lot of energy, effort, or speed
force to make someone do something even though they do not want to
headlights the large lights at the front of a vehicle
haze smoke, dust, or mist in the air which is difficult to see through
ordinarily usually
sparkling very clean, and seeming to shine brightly
visibility the distance it is possible to see, especially when this is affected by weather
conditions
reach if something reaches a particular rate, amount etc, it increases until it is at that rate or
amount
flooding a situation in which an area of land becomes covered with water, for example
because of heavy rain
batter to hit someone or something again and again, in a way that hurts someone or causes
damage
monsoon the heavy rain that falls during the monsoon, or the wind that brings the rain
cyclone a very strong wind that moves very fast in a circle
mudslide when a lot of wet earth suddenly falls down the side of a hill
flash flood a flood that happens very quickly or suddenly, and continues for only a short time
flatten to destroy a building or town by knocking it down, bombing it etc
pound to hit something very hard several times and make a lot of noise, damage it, break it
into smaller pieces etc
tornado an extremely violent storm consisting of air that spins very quickly and causes a lot
of damage
rip to tear something or be torn quickly and violently
debris the pieces of something that are left after it has been destroyed in an accident,
explosion etc
settle if dust, snow etc settles, it comes down and stays in one place
collective shared or made by every member of a group or society
misery great suffering that is caused for example by being very poor or very sick
tally to calculate a total number
devastation very bad or complete damage
in some respects used to say that something is true in one way, in some ways etc
exceed to be more than a particular number or amount