how el nio has disrupted life in different parts of the world creditandres cristaldoeuropean pressphoto agencymarch 19 2016in rural villages in africa and asia and in urban neighborhoods in south america millions of lives have been disrupted by weather linked to the strongest el nio in a generationin some parts of the world the problem has been not enough rain in others too much downpours were so bad in paraguays capital asuncin that shantytowns sprouted along city streets filled with families displaced by floods but farmers in india had the opposite problem reduced monsoon rains forced them off the land and into daylabor jobsin south africa a drought hit farmers so hard that the country which a few years ago was exporting corn to asian markets now will have to buy millions of tons of it from brazil and other south american countriesthey will actually have to import it which is rare said rogerio bonifacio a climate analyst with the world food program a united nations agency this is a major droughtthe world health organization has estimated that worldwide el niorelated weather is putting 60 million people at increased risk of malnutrition water and mosquitoborne diseases and other illnessesscientists began reporting early signs of el nio conditions early last year based on changes in surfacewater temperatures and atmospheric pressure in the equatorial pacific by midyear the world meteorological organization declared that el nio was in full swing and that it was on track to be the strongest such event since 199798videothe weather phenomenon known as el nio can cause dramatic effects around the world henry fountain explains where it comes froman el nio occurs on average every two to seven years when warm pacific water shifts eastward creating an immense warm zone in the central and eastern pacific this adds heat and moisture to the air which condenses high in the atmosphere releasing energy that affects the highaltitude winds known as jet streams that circle the planet the warmer the ocean the more energy that can potentially be releasedone effect of the energy is that it alters the course of a jet stream in the northern hemisphere this can bring more winter storms to the southern united states including southern californiabut adding all that energy to the upper atmosphere can also introduce a ripple in a jet stream that may affect weather halfway around the world its like waving a paddle back and forth in the stream and generating planetaryscale atmospheric waves said michael mcphaden a senior scientist with the national oceanic and atmospheric administrationthat leads to patterns of precipitation or lack of it that can pop up in farflung regions at different times heavy rains in southcentral south america from september to january increased dryness in central america for much of the year and a reduced summer monsoon in india among other effectsbecause these patterns often recur in different el nio years the effects can be predictable nonetheless they can still test the ability of governments and aid agencies