Impacts of the 1997-98 El Niño Event in Papua New Guinea

Joe Barr, Bernard Choulai, Sam Maiha, Balthasar Wayi and Kaigabu Kamnanaya (2000). Impacts of the 1997-98 El Niño Event in Papua New Guinea. Reducing the Impact of Environmental Emergencies through Early Warning and Preparedness in the Case of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). United Nations University.

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  • Sub-type Technical report
    Author Joe Barr
    Bernard Choulai
    Sam Maiha
    Balthasar Wayi
    Kaigabu Kamnanaya
    Editor Joe Barr
    Title Impacts of the 1997-98 El Niño Event in Papua New Guinea
    Series Title Reducing the Impact of Environmental Emergencies through Early Warning and Preparedness in the Case of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO)
    Publication Date 2000
    Place of Publication Ainslie
    Publisher United Nations University
    Pages 52
    Language eng
    Abstract Situated close to the normal warm water pool of the southwest Pacific, Papua New Guinea can be seriously, and quickly, affected by El Niño events. Historically the most common direct effect of the eastward movement of the warm water pool appears to be a reduction in cloud cover, resulting from decreased convection. Reduced cloud cover leads to a reduction in rainfall over much of the nearby region, resulting in drought in the worst affected areas. Reduced cloud cover also leads to faster cooling of the land overnight. In the Highlands of Papua New Guinea, this results in change to the frost pattern in two ways: (1) There is an increase the number of frost days in parts of the Highlands above 2,200 meters and (2) the frosts also extend to lower altitude areas that normally do not experience frost conditions. It may also be surmised that the severity of the frosts at any particular altitude increases, but in the absence of temperature records, this is impossible to confirm. Depending on their severity, the reduced rainfall and higher frost rate can lead to water shortages, crop losses and famine. These increase the vulnerability of the human population to disease, and dry the vegetation--making it more vulnerable to fire. Surviving vegetation is weakened and, in turn, becomes vulnerable to pest and disease attack. The longer the impact lasts, the longer the recovery period appears to be.
    UNBIS Thesaurus PAPUA NEW GUINEA
    CLIMATE
    NATURAL DISASTERS
    WATER RESOURCES
    METEOROLOGY
    EL NINO CURRENT
    Copyright Holder United Nations University
    Copyright Year 2000
    Copyright type All rights reserved
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    Created: Tue, 09 Nov 2021, 17:11:38 JST