Climatologists are warning that an El Nino weather pattern, which can spark severe floods, forest fires and droughts, could develop in the coming weeks across the Asia-Pacific region.
An El Nino event occurs when water temperature in the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean rises abnormally. The movement of warmer, moist air to the east leaves drier weather in the western Pacific.
The Climate Prediction Center in the United States has warned that after months of rising temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean, the onset of an El Nino pattern was becoming more likely between now and August. The water is now half a degree warmer than average.
Researchers at Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology agree that an El Nino event is likely. They say if recent trends in Pacific climate patterns persist, there is a strong chance that an El Nino pattern will emerge in the coming months.
Australian farmers survey a dry creek bed on their drought stricken 100-hectare property near Toowoomba, west of Brisbane (File)
Such conditions could be disastrous for farmers in Australia’s drought-prone southeast who can expect little relief from years of below average rainfall.
The effects of such a shift in weather patterns would be felt across Southeast Asia.
Professor Matthew England, director of the Climate Change Research Center at the University of New South Wales, says Indonesia would likely have drastically less rainfall.
“The effects on Indonesia are actually even stronger,” he said. “If you look at how El Nino affects all the nations around the Pacific Rim, Australia is often thought of prominently in that regard. But Indonesia and Southeast Asia generally see much drier conditions during El Ninos. In past El Ninos we have seen some very severe forest fires in Indonesia.”
The most devastating El Nino occurred in 1997. It caused widespread drought in Australia and Indonesia as well as floods in Peru and Ecuador.
An El Nino event can also bring wetter weather to parts of the United States and can affect the monsoon season in India.
In an El Nino year, there are typically more hurricanes in the Eastern Pacific and, conversely, fewer such storms in the Atlantic.
Another in a series of reports for home vegetable gardeners. Transcript of radio broadcast: 09 March 2009
/* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:”"; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:”Calibri”,”sans-serif”; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:”Times NThis is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
True or false? Potatoes are root vegetables.
False. Potatoes are underground stems called tubers.
Most kinds of potatoes can be planted during cool weather. But John Masiunas of the University of Illinois Extension says it may be best to wait until after the last winter freeze.
The extension service says the best formation happens when the soil is between fifteen and twenty-one degrees Celsius. Tubers will not form if the soil temperature reaches twenty-seven degrees.
Potatoes are started from “seed pieces.” These are either small whole potatoes or potatoes cut into pieces. Each piece should weigh about forty to sixty grams. The experts at the University of Illinois say pieces that weigh less than thirty grams may not produce as much.
Each piece must have at least one good “eye,” the small dark spot where a sprout will grow. Soon after the pieces are cut, plant them twenty-five to thirty centimeters apart. Cover them in a furrow between two and one-half and seven and one-half centimeters deep. The rows should be spaced about sixty to ninety centimeters apart.
For potatoes, the best soil is fertile and well drained, not wet. To improve clay soils, mix in garden waste or other organic matter and turn the soil deeply in the fall. If possible, in the year before you plant potatoes, plant a cover crop to improve the soil and the potato production. The extension service suggests a crop such as clover, buckwheat or winter rye.
After the potato plants appear, organic mulch can be spread around to hold moisture, help suppress weed growth and cool the soil. John Masiunas says water management is extremely important. Potatoes do not grow well in very dry conditions.
Some gardeners plant potatoes under straw, or stems of dried grain. Instead of burying the seed pieces, place them at the surface. Then spread loose straw ten to fifteen centimeters deep over the seed pieces and between the planted rows. The potatoes should send up sprouts through the straw cover.
You can wait till the fall to harvest potatoes, or harvest them during the growing season as new potatoes. But whatever you do, make sure to handle potatoes carefully. They can bruise easily, and damaged potatoes can quickly go bad.
And that’s the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. For more advice about growing potatoes and other vegetables, go to voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Bob Doughty.
