How does El Nino spread disease?
It can be a bit complicated, but the short answer is that the temperature and precipitation patterns driven by ENSO can alter the habitat of disease transmitters, such as mosquitoes or rodents, or make conditions more conducive for waterborne diseases, such as cholera.
How does El Nino affect health?
El Niño conditions can cause a wide range of health problems, including disease outbreaks, malnutrition, heat stress, and respiratory diseases. Above-average rainfall caused by El Niño can also cause floods and increase diseases spread by mosquitoes, such as malaria, dengue, chikungunya and the Zika virus.
How might prolonged El Nino events impact the spread of human diseases?
The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle causes ripples through the global climate, changing rainfall and air currents. These shifts, in turn, can cause disease carriers to interact in new ways, creating novel pathogens.
How does climate change associated with El Niño affect transmission of disease?
Climate changes associated with ENSO may trigger an increase in dengue fever transmission in larger, more populated islands where the disease is endemic. There was also evidence of propagation of infection from larger islands to smaller neighbors.
What are the effects of El Niño on the economy?
Taking the temperature These extreme weather conditions can constrain the supply of rain-driven agricultural commodities, lead to higher food prices and inflation, and may trigger social unrest in commodity-dependent countries that rely primarily on imported food.
Does El Niño increase cholera?
Interannual climate variability patterns associated with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation phenomenon result in climate and environmental anomaly conditions in specific regions worldwide that directly favor outbreaks and/or amplification of variety of diseases of public health concern including chikungunya, hantavirus.
What is the cause and effect of El Niño?
An El Niño condition occurs when surface water in the equatorial Pacific becomes warmer than average and east winds blow weaker than normal. The opposite condition is called La Niña. During this phase of ENSO, the water is cooler than normal and the east winds are stronger. El Niños typically occur every 3 to 5 years.
What are the effects of El Nino on the economy?
What natural disasters can El Nino cause?
El Niño is associated with death and disease, most of which result from weather-related disasters such as floods and droughts. In 1997 Central Ecuador and Peru suffered rainfall more than 10 times normal, which caused flooding, extensive erosion and mudslides with loss of lives, destruction of homes and food supplies.
How does El Nino affect the Philippines?
El Niño is caused by the warming of sea surface temperature in the Pacific and can affect air and sea currents. This phenomenon resulted in reduced rainfall that led to dry spells, droughts and stronger typhoons. El Niño lasted for 18 months in the Philippines and officially ended in July 2016.
How does El Niño impact people in Africa?
In Africa, El Niño conditions are associated with increased rainfall in East Africa and decreased rainfall in southern Africa, West Africa, and parts of the Sahel.
How does El Niño affect human health?
Severe drought and associated food insecurity, flooding, rains, and temperature rises due to El Niño are causing a wide range of health problems, including disease outbreaks, malnutrition, heat stress and respiratory diseases.
What is El Niño climate pattern?
El Nino Climate Pattern May Influence Disease Outbreaks Globally. El Niño is the warm phase of the ENSO, characterized by unusually high sea surface temperatures along the equator in the Pacific, lasting between nine months and two years, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
How long will El Niño last?
Although adverse weather effects of El Niño are expected to subside by mid-2016, the health impacts are expected to last throughout 2016 and beyond. Urgent attention is needed now.
What are the effects of El Nino on monsoons?
If this normal pressure distribution is affected for some reason, the monsoons are affected. In India, Australia, it can bring about drought conditions. This affects the crop productivity largely. It has been also observed certain times, that EL Nino may not bring drought but cause heavy rainfall.