EL NINO IN FIJI AND SOUTH PACIFIC

Post Courier 27 August 2015

The Fiji Government is preparing for the worst as a prolonged dry spell is predicted to continue for at least a couple of months.

The Disaster Management Minister says hundreds of thousands of litres of water have already been sent to parts of Western Division including the outer islands.

Over 30,000 people are adversely affected by the lack of rain but the Minister has said that no drought has been declared yet.

The Ministry had already spent its budget of K455,000 for provision of emergency water. He said an additional K62,000 has been made available as the situation is expected to get worse.

Predictions from the weather office is that the period from September to October will probably be the worst but there is the possibility the drought will continue into January/February next year.

The entire Pacific region is preparing for what forecasters say could be the worst El Nino event since the late 1990s with ocean temperatures already 3-5 degrees centigrade above normal.

El Nino is expected to last well into next year. El Nino is the warm phase of the El Nino Southern Oscillation (commonly called ENSO).

It is associated with a warm band of ocean water that develops in the Central and East-Central equatorial Pacific, between the International Date Line and 120 degrees west including the Pacific Coast of South America.

Comment: It would be great diplomacy if one or more of the major powers sent an oil tanker or five full of water to the Pacific zone each with equipment to reach islands whose people have no water. Some islands now have no water.