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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, February 09, 2002
El Nino Appears in Peru
Peruvian authorities confirmed on Friday the presence of the El Nino climate phenomenon along its Pacific coast, but they considered it as "slight."
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Peruvian authorities confirmed on Friday the presence of the El Nino climate phenomenon along its Pacific coast, but they considered it as "slight."
Hugo Arevalo, president of the Multi-Sector Committee for the Study of the El Nino Phenomenon, said it is impossible yet to predict whether the El Nino will grow in magnitude or dissipate over the coming weeks or months.
Changes had been noted in the Pacific Ocean and trade winds which normally cushion warming in the waters have weakened, he explained.
El Nino is characterized by irregular warming of tropical Pacific Ocean water over periods of two to seven years.
In 1997, the phenomenon left thousands of victims in Peru and million-dollar losses because of flooding rivers and torrential rains.
So far this year, heavy downpours, floods and landslides have left three dead and more than 6,000 homeless, and caused extensive damage to crops, housing and infrastructures.
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