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TODAY Friday 27 February 1998 Each weekday. Conn Nugent on what's new in the world, on the site.

 

TODAY IN THE WORLD: Trust El Nino

There are natural phenomena that wimp out -- remember the Comet Kahoutek -- and there are natural phenomena that deliver the earth-shaking goods. These days no one is saying that El Nino is hype. Remember late last summer when nervous West Coasters were all trying to get their roofs patched ("The Boy Who Stalks California")? They were right.

Yesterday morning brought three separate stories on the certification of this year's El Nino as a mega-event. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said that: A) the storms in California and Florida were definitely Nino-induced; B) at least 90 people had died because of them; C) the weather system had at least two to three months of life left in it; and D) there was no way to know if worse disturbances weren't on the way.

Meanwhile, farmers in California and Florida are understandably rattled. Fields are waterlogged, spring planting has been postponed, and winter crops have taken big hits. The expectation of American consumers that cheap lettuce is to be eaten in April at 40 degrees north latitude will be hard to satisfy this year. Farmers in all places are worried that the 1997-1998 El Nino will follow the pattern of the 1993-1994 system, which ushered in a prolonged drought once the heavy rains abated.

And, finally, scientists studying the Great Barrier Reef say that El Nino (which Down Under has brought abnormally hot dry summer weather) is responsible for an unprecedented amount of bleaching of the corals. If the high temperatures persist, they say, great swathes of the Reef will be lost.

And now for the good news. New York City doesn't have to use snowplows anymore, which around here makes for a $25 million municipal windfall. Kids, bereft of snow days, will get to leave their public schools a little earlier in June. We have not had to watch TV news of air travelers spending the night on benches in O'Hare.

All in all, one for the books. To be crude about it, comrades, how do we enviro agitators exploit this opportunity?

 

TODAY ON THE SITE

You know, of course, that for all things meteorological you need wander no farther than the climate change store of our In The Trenches Mega-Mall of America. Leonie Haimson has received enough plaudits from big scientists around the world that we can safely brag that she is the best climate reporter on the Internet, period.

 

Recent "Today" columns:

2/26: That Darn Triple-A
2/25: Cutting a Deal on Endangered Species
2/24: Fire? Again?
2/23: Garbage
2/20: Population Rebellion in the Sierra Club
2/19: The Trouble With Cattle
2/18: Optimistic Feds and the Future of Kyoto
2/17: The New Great Game
2/13: Windmills
2/12: Stuart Eizenstat's Smart Bomb
2/11: Alligator in the Coal Mine
2/10: Inconvenient Public Opinion
2/9: Remember Penn Station
2/6: Adam Smith and Automobile Efficiency
2/5: Clean Water, Naturally
2/4: Roll, Storms, Roll
2/3: Land Purchase Fever
2/2: Groundhog Day in the Persian Gulf
1/30: Trees and Hormones
1/29: Things To Come (2)
1/28: Things To Come
1/27: 'Bye, 'Bye Brazil
1/26: Jaywalking and Jaydriving
1/23: Good Biotech, Bad Biotech
1/22: No More Roads
1/21: Swordfish

To access more "Today" columns, click "Archives" below.