Bringing, the Sunday Times says menacingly, “droughts, floods, crop failures and social unrest.” Being a Los Angeles native, I just thought that El Nino also meant that L.A. would finally get rain and hopefully not as many wildfires. But here’s better insight on the warming in the Pacific Ocean:

“According to scientists at AmericaÂ’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a new bout of El Niño is under way as the surface of tropical waters across the eastern Pacific has warmed roughly 1C (1.8F) above normal and is still rising.

Further down, some 150 meters (500ft) below the surface, the waters are heating up — by around 4C (7.2F).

…The implications are severe, not just for climate but for the effects on food, water supplies and other commodities. Australia, still recovering from its worst drought in a century, will be hit again if the rains fail to nourish its wheat belt. Indonesia is one of the worldÂ’s biggest producers of palm oil — a basic source of income for many of its poor — and a drought would hit this commodity hard.

Farming in India is already suffering from an abnormal monsoon, which scientists think could be related to the emerging El Niño.”