Two sisters

Well, the dreaded El Nino has gone, leaving behind a trail of parched land, soaring heat wave, destruction of lives and inequitable distribution of rains – too much rain in one place and not a drop of water in another. The whole world is reeling. El Nino happens when the equatorial Pacific warms up. Now the waters have started cooling off and just when we all are looking skywards for rains, to come pouring down to end this heat and drought, scientists have started talking about this sibling of El Nino – La Nina.

They say that La Nina could lead to heavy rains in Indonesia and India, drought in Brazil, hurricanes in Atlantic and for some parts of the world, this sister of El Nino could wreak more havoc. Forecasters on two continents have issued La Nina watches for this year. Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology says the odds are about 50% and the U.S. Climate Prediction Center is betting on 75% by Dec.

Prediction had been made that El Nino would form in 2014 and it fizzled away. We hope the same happens to La Nina this year – it fizzles out and brings normalcy to earth.