Philippines prepares for 'The Little Girl' by Nina Ridge
Government officials have told people in the Philippines to prepare for heavy rains and flash flooding over the coming months as the first signs of a La Niña develop in the Pacific Ocean.
La Niña (The Little Girl) is characterized by unusually cold ocean temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific, as compared to El Niño, which is characterized by unusually warm ocean temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific.
Both El Niño and La Niña have impacts on global climate patterns. In many locations, especially in the tropics, La Niña produces the opposite climate variations from El Niño. For instance, parts of Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines are prone to drought during El Niño, but are typically wetter than normal during La Niña owing to the warmer ocean temperatures allowing storms to become more marked here.
Continuous heavy rain has already this season caused major landslides, major flooding, killing 16 and forcing thousands to be evacuated. The Philippines Weather Bureau said that they expect the severe weather to continue as the La Niña continues to develop and intensify over the coming months. They explained that La Niña conditions would not necessarily mean more storms, but would bring tropical cyclones closer to the country’s 7,100 islands and therefore bring heavy rains.
Agriculture makes up a fifth of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and is one of the largest employers. This has forced the Agricultural Department to take drastic measures to insure a minimal impact on the economy through this stormy spell. They have decided to widen the areas of rice growing as it is a water-dependent staple of the country, as well as helping farmers in areas likely to be hit by heavy rains to shift to other crops, which will be more successful than their usual produce in these conditions.
La Niña - one to watch out for over the coming months…
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