Tornados hurtle through Mexico, leaving a trail of death and battered crops. Floods wash over East Africa, rooting people from their homes.
Drought stretches across Indonesia, sparking fires in national forests and a famine in the east.
While Peru and Zimbabwe are bracing for dry weather, Ethiopia and Kenya are deluged by rains. El Ni o, the boy or Christ child the appearance of a vast body of warm water in the Pacific Ocean that wreaks havoc with the world s weather and that earned its name nearly three centuries ago with its Christmastime recurrences. A severe El Ni o can bring famine and malnutrition to thousands and cripple local economies. But science and hindsight may prove powerful weapons in mitigating El Ni o s destructive effects on agriculture. Countries in Africa and Latin America are learning from their past mistakes and drafting strategies to help farmers cope with El Ni o well before it hits.