The waters off the coast of Peru are normally one of the most productive fisheries in the world, each year producing millions of tonnes of anchovies to be used for fertilizer and animal feed. But in late August, the government cancelled the anchovy season early: the El Nino event gaining strength in the tropical Pacific Ocean has increased ocean temperatures and sent full-grown anchovies in search of food to deeper, colder waters, ruining the catch. That is just one example of how this year's monster El Nino is causing disruptions globally. Forecasts for the months ahead suggest that the impacts will be felt in many locations normally associated with El Nino's influence, says Deepti Singh, a climate scientist at Washington State University in Vancouver. That includes drought in areas around the equator, Central America and the western Pacific Ocean, as well as extreme rainfall in the horn of Africa, western United States and the Pacific coast of South America. But this El Nino is...
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