A theory for the El Nino

The onset of El Nino is characterized by the incursion of warm water along the coasts of some South American countries specially Peru immediately after Christmas at an interval of 2-10 years. The upwelling of nutrient cold water stops and as a result fish and birds disappear resulting in an immense economic loss to these countries. The El Nino has also its impact on the global weather in general and specially on the monsoons. A theory in which the cold Humboldt current having the appropriate velocity plays the pivotal role in setting on and off the El Nino phenomenon has been developed in this paper. (author). 10 refs, 5 figs