How does El Niño affect the rainforest?
23 June 2023 (602 visits)As newspapers have been commenting now for several weeks, when water temperatures off the coast of Peru are higher than usual, global weather patterns are affected. This phenomenon raises ocean temperatures every two to seven years.
The El Niño warm ocean current gets its name from the time of year when it is usually first detected. As far back as the 17th century, fishermen in the north of Peru noticed how, during some years, sea temperatures would rise and fish stocks disappear, and that this happened around Christmas, when the Christ Child (“El Niño”) is honored as part of the Christian faith.
On Peru’s normally arid northern desert coast, higher coastal water temperatures can lead to torrential rainfall and flooding. And flooding can also be attributed to El Niño in other parts of South America, including Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil and Uruguay, as well as across the Atlantic Ocean, as far away as Scotland.
But at the same time, the effects of El Niño on the world’s ocean currents and global weather patterns can also lead to reduced rainfall in parts of the world far from Peru, such as southern Africa, Asia, and even Australia.
Here in Peru, while heavy rains are usually forecast on the northern desert coast during El Niño years, in the Andes mountains of southern Peru where Cusco and Machu Picchu are located, and in the tropical forests where our eco-lodge and Private Conservation Area are situated, on the border with Tambopata National Reserve, rainfall during the time of year when the wet season is usually felt the most is often lower than normal. This means that during an El Niño event, like the one the world is expected to feel increasingly as this year progresses, rainfall here in our jungle home from December to March can drop markedly.
When the Amazon rainforest is hit by this kind of partial drought, wildlife sightings around the oxbow lakes and other water sources where we take our guests on guided ecotourism excursions, including on the Tambopata River itself, are often even more frequent than usual, as animals emerge from the forests in search of water to drink.
Now, while this is perhaps great news for our guests who don’t relish the “rain” part of the rainforest, and who of course want to see us much wildlife as possible, any drought, however short-lived, places stress on the delicate ecosystems of our tropical forest home. So, when you visit us at Tambopata Ecolodge later this year, don’t be too unhappy if at some point you find yourself having to reach for your rain poncho!!
