IMPACTS South America
Colombia
		[ Heat Wave ]
		[ Coffee ]

Heat Wave

El Niņo sent a warm spot right off the coast of South America, so the whole continent was hit pretty hard. In Central America, the Caribbean, and northern America (which includes Colombia) there was a rainfall deficit and a heat wave. This year, Colombia set record high temperatures. Also, with all this heat more insects could be bred-- so South America was hit by a swarm of insects following El Niņo.

The intense heat with out any rain relief has more consequences than making people uncomfortable. There is a shortage of water, so it has to be rationed, and the crops don't get enough water to survive (see below). A long drought hit Colombia this year because of El Niņo, which also hit the countries above in Central America with a drought. Too bad Colombia didn't get a portion of the rain pouring down on the rest of South America.

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Coffee El Niņo caused the trade winds to reverse, so a warm moisture spot was centered off the coast of South America. However, some countries in Central and South America didn't get a share in the moisture, but had a drought instead. Colombia's key export crop is coffee, which needs rain water to survive and grow. Because of the drought, Colombian farmers lost a lot of their crops and a lot of money for not being able to export as much coffee as usual. Back to Top