Currently, what makes Vietnam and the rest of the world concerned are not only in the fields of politics, economics, society, food, defense security,... but also the environment. All of us have heard the phrase “climate change” or “global warming”. This phenomenon has caused the weather to change erratically, complicatedly, and unpredictably such as quick ice melting, sea levels rising, and droughts,...
👉 “El Nino” (in Spanish meaning child of God or also known as the male child) is the word used to refer to the unusual warming phenomenon of ocean water surface in the central equatorial region. Central and Eastern Pacific Ocean, lasting 8 - 12 months, or longer, usually appearing every 3 - 4 years, but sometimes more or less frequently.
👉 “La Nina” (also known as the female child) is a phenomenon in which the ocean water surface in the above area becomes unusually cold, occurring with a cycle similar to or less frequent than El Nino.
👉 “ENSO” is the abbreviation of the compound words El Nino Southern Oscillation (El Nino - Southern Oscillation) to refer to both El Nino and La Nina phenomena and is related to fluctuations in pressure between The East Coast of the Pacific Ocean and the Western Pacific - Eastern Indian Ocean (called the Southern Oscillation) to distinguish it from the pressure fluctuation in the North Atlantic.
The impact on agriculture under El Nino conditions means that the average rice yield of the Winter-Spring crop will usually decrease compared to the previous crop, especially in the Northern midlands, on the contrary, the rice yield of the Summer-autumn crop will increase, especially in the North Central region. With La Nina, the average rice yield in the Winter-Spring crop and the Summer-autumn crop both increased compared to the previous crop, of which the Winter-Spring crop was most obvious in the Northern Delta, and the Summer-autumn crop was most obvious in the Mekong Delta. Finally, ENSO will cause harvested coffee area and coffee output to increase compared to the previous crop: in La Nina years, coffee area is larger than in El Nino years, but coffee output in El Nino years is higher than in La Nina years.
Recently, the United Nations issued a warning about the possibility of the El Nino weather phenomenon occurring shortly, causing global temperatures to rise to a peak. World Meteorological Organization (WMO) estimates that there is a 60% chance that El Nino will develop by the end of July and an 80% chance that it will develop by the end of September. The most recent El Nino occurred in 2018 - 2019. In 2010, the world suffered from a prolonged La Nina period. Moreover, the past 8 years were the hottest period on record, although the La Nina phenomenon lasted for half of this period and this situation could get worse. La Nina acts as a brake on global warming. The development of an El Nino episode will be a push for global warming and easily cause record temperature increases soon.
The effects of climate change and the El Nino phenomenon have been and will be causing the weather to become more and more extreme. The heat in the dry season will be more intense, and the winter will be colder. The phenomena of hail, tornadoes, lightning, storms, and floods... will occur more frequently and at a more dangerous level, causing negative impacts on human health - life and future crops.
