El Niño 2014 - it's coming soon. According to Reuters, a new study reportedly shows that the arrival of El Niño 2014 will be in mid-2014. The study says that though soybean production will be boosted in some countries, in others, El Niño 2014 will likely reduce corn, rice and wheat yields.
The El Niño 2014 weather phenomenon is anticipated to reduce world maize, rice and wheat yields, though it could enhance production in soybeans, says a study that could help farmers plan what to grow.
The study on the effects of El Niño 2014 is a Japanese-led report, and they reportedly gave a so-called first global set of maps which links yields of major crops to El Niño 2014. El Niño is the warming of the surface of the tropical Pacific Ocean which can trigger downpours or droughts around the globe.
The study in the journal Nature Communications regarding El Niño 2014 said that the maps are meant to help farmers decide which crops or varieties to plant and may give governments a "famine early warning system."
According to CS Monitor, most forecasts illustrate the El Niño 2014 weather phenomenon emerging in mid-2014. This was forecasted by the U.N.'s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) last month.
Spanish for 'the boy', El Niño forms every two to seven years and the weather's warning signs emerge months in advance. The study produced Thursday said maize yields fell 2.3 percent in El Niño years compared to normal in 1984 to 2004. In the meantime, rice was down 0.4 percent and wheat 1.4 percent. Soybean yields rose 3.5 percent, with rainfall patterns favoring big U.S. and Brazilian harvests.
According to the study by scientists in Japan, the United States, Britain, Australia and Denmark, the years with a La Niña event, the opposite of El Niño and cooling the Pacific surface, reportedly yielded a dip in all four crops.
According to lead author Toshichika Iizumi of Japan's National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, farmers in Australia were amongst those who sometimes switched crop plans based on El Niño forecasts. Iizumi told Reuters, "I hope the finding of this study extends such efforts to national governments for controlling food storage, building food trade strategy, and earlier application of food aid in food insecure regions."
El Niño 2014 downpours, according to a report last year by the U.N. panel of climate scientists said that may intensify. Reports also say there are big uncertainties about whether global warming will affect the frequency of El Niño and La Niña indefinitely.
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