As a result of this phenomenon. known as El Nino, more rainfall than normal is likely thiswinter across some areas of the United States, with unusually warm or cold weather in otherparts of the country.

　　Currently the phenomenon is marked by a warm pool of water along the equator extendingfrom the International Date Line nearly to the coast of South America. That water is nearly 4.degrees Fahrenheit above normal. explained Vernon Kousky of the climate center.

　　This warm water "spreads almost a quarter of the way around the globe. So it's massive and ithas an impact on our weather. It has a global influence... because it disturbs the atmosphere",said Dave Rodenhuis. director of the climate center.

　　"E1 Nino is probably the most important climate event beyond the annual cycle of seasons", headded.

　　Because the changes tended to be first noticed around Christmas, the phenomenon was givenche name El Nino, which is Spanish for child, a term often used to refer to the baby Jesus.

　　The phenomenon occurs every three to five years, sometimes in a mild form and sometimesstrongly affecting weather patterns worldwide. Details of its cause are not fully understood, butwhen it occurs. unusually warm air can be pumped into Canada. Alaska and the northern UnitedStates. At the same time, conditions tend to be wetter than normal along the US SoutheastCoast and the Gulf of Mexico. And the Atlantic and Caribbean hurricane season tends to bemilder than usual.

　　The strong El Nino of 1982-1983 was blamed for worsening the devastating drought in Africa,causing a series or severe winter storms to come ashore in California, spawning the firsttyphoon to strike French Polynesia m 75 years-followed by five more in Five months-delugingPeru and Ecuador with torrential rains and promoting the worst drought in two centuries inAustralia.

　　Overall damage was estimated at between $2 billion and $8 billion by a United Nations analysisand the death toll topped l,500 worldwide.

　　美國全國氣象局在星期一發表報道稱，[1]大量溫暖的海水正在引起大氣變化，這可能會導致全球天氣在未來幾個月內出現異常。

　　[1]這就是所謂“厄爾尼諾”現象造成的結果，它可能會在今年冬天給美國一些地區帶來超常多的降雨，而在這個國家其他地方則會有異常溫暖或異常寒冷的天氣。

　　目前這一現象的一個標志是，沿赤道一帶從國際日期變更線附近伸展到南美海岸的大范圍內出現溫暖的海水。氣候中心的Vernon Kousky解釋道，水溫比正常約高出華氏4度。

　　[2]這些暖水“幾乎伸展到環繞地球四分一的地方。其容積巨大，會對氣候產生影響。其影響是全球性的……因為它擾亂了大氣”，氣候中心主任Dave Rodenhuis如是說。

　　“厄爾尼諾現象也許是除每年的季節變化之外最重要的氣候現象，”他補充道。

　　[3]因為水溫變化常常先在圣誕節前后引起人們的注意，所以這一現象被命名為“厄爾尼諾”，“厄爾尼諾”是西班牙語“孩子”的意思，通常用來指“圣嬰”。

　　這種現象每隔三到五年出現，有的時候來得比較溫和，有的時候則會強烈影響全球的天氣模式。[4]人們至今還未完全了解這一現象的成因，但它出現時，異常溫暖的空氣會被吹送到加拿大、阿拉斯加和美國北部。同時，美國東南海岸和墨西哥灣沿岸會有超常的降水。而大西洋和加勒比海的颶風會變得相較溫和。

　　[5]1982-1983年的強厄爾尼諾現象是許多自然災害的罪魁禍首;它使非洲毀滅性的干旱進一步惡化，造成一系列強烈冬季風暴侵襲加州海岸，生成75年來首次吹襲法屬玻利尼西亞的臺風——隨后在五個月內再有五次——還為秘魯和厄瓜多爾帶來多場豪雨造成泛濫，并在澳大利亞促成兩個世紀來最嚴重的干旱。

　　據聯各國的一項分析表明，當時造成的總損失在20億到80億美元之間，全世界的死亡人數則高達l500人以上。