IRI Climate Information
Digest - Impacts February 1999
CLIMATE AND HEALTH
- Recently reported research has suggested a link between El Niño
and occurrences of African Horse Sickness in southern Africa. The
relationship is attributed to increased populations of an insect known
as the biting midge, which is thought to be responsible for spread of the
disease.
HAZARDS/THREATS
- Excessive
snowfall from Switzerland eastward through Slovakia, the Czech Republic,
Hungary, Romania, southern Ukraine and southward into parts of Bulgaria
and Greece has been responsible for avalanches, power and telephone
outages and the isolation of several small communities. The excess snowfall
raises the threat of springtime flooding. Some early flooding has
already been experienced in Hungary.
- Heavy rainswere associated with local flooding in the Philippines.
- Several hundreds of people were evacuated from potential flood
hazard areas of Queensland, Australia in response to tropical cyclone Rona.
AGRICULTURE
- Winter wheat regions of Ukraine and Belarus continued to experience
unseasonably mild and favorable temperatures.
- Generally favorable conditions for winter grains were also experienced
over Western Europe with the exception of very dry conditions in Spain.
- Dry conditions characterized much of the winter grain areas in Morocco
until significant rains in the last week of February.
- Much of Australia experienced generally beneficial La Niña
related rains, but locally heavy rains in Queensland hampered summer harvests.
Extremely heavy rains associated with tropical cyclone Rona were responsible
for flooding in sugar cane producing areas and raised concerns about production.
- Heavy rains are expected to delay the coffee harvest in Indonesia.
FISHERIES
- Industrial landings in Peru and northern Chile
improved slightly during the month of February. Due to a seasonal
ban on anchovy and sardine in Northern Peru, catch was made up primarily of
mackerel, while southern Peru and northern Chile landings were composed
of adult anchovy. As of Feb. 28, accumulated landings for Peru were 925,698 metric
tons (compared to 130,506 mt for the same period in 1998) and 258,561 mt
for northern Chile (compared to 92,174 for the same period in 1998).
Anecdotal reports are pessimistic regarding the rapid recuperation of the
anchovy stocks. Despite improved catch, however, low prices and surplus
fishmeal stock held by producers and traders has exacerbated the financial
crisis the industry is currently facing.
|