Every two to seven years a climatic disturbance
brings floods to California, droughts to Australia,
and famine to Africa . Known as El Nino, it is
essentially a warming of surface waters in the
eastern Pacific near the equator. Although scientists
understand the mechanics of El Nino, its origins
have yet to be determined. Most believe that the
interaction between the atmosphere and the sea
somehow generates this climatic disturbance that
wreaks havoc upon those regions of the world that
lie in its path.
But now a new theory on the origins of El Nino
has been proposed and, surprisingly, it has very
little to do with the atmosphere or the sea. The
new theory suggests that the primary mover behind
El Nino is hot magma welling up between tectonic
plates on the Pacific sea-floor. The upwelling
magma heats the overlying waters enough to affect
the ocean surface, initiating the cascade of events
that brings on the wrath of El Nino.
