The Province’s El Niño Task Force convened on Friday afternoon, May 12, 2023, to discuss updates and plans to mitigate the impact of the forecasted El Niño phenomenon.
Vice Governor Victor Balite opened the meeting and Provincial Administrator Asteria Caberte presided on behalf of Governor Aris Aumentado who arrived later after assessing the peace and order situation in Antequera.
PAG-ASA’s Leonard Samar reported that model predictions forecast the possible return of El Niño with an 80% probability by June or July 2023 and may increase through the end of 2023 to the first quarter of 2024.
The Governor has called for swift action to prepare for the potential impact of the El Niño phenomenon on the province.
El Niño is a climate pattern that describes the unusual warming of surface waters in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. It is the “warm phase” of a larger phenomenon called the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). La Niña, the “cool phase” of ENSO, is a pattern that describes the unusual cooling of the region’s surface waters.
El Niño has an impact on ocean temperatures, the speed and strength of ocean currents, the health of coastal fisheries, and local weather from Australia to South America and beyond.
El Niño can have a wide range of impacts on weather patterns, ocean conditions, and marine fisheries across large portions of the globe. It can cause increased or decreased rainfall, which can lead directly to natural disasters such as floods or droughts. In some regions, it can bring about drought conditions that affect crop productivity. El Niño can also cause a wide range of health problems, including disease outbreaks, malnutrition, heat stress and respiratory diseases.