El Nino weather phenomenon
A woman carries a bucket of water on her head in Santa Isabel August 19, 2014. According to a recent report by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), run by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), low rainfall linked to the El Nino weather phenomenon has led to drought in parts of Central America, causing widespread damage to crops, shortages and rising prices of food, and worsening hunger among the region's poor. Reuters

Many countries around the world are already experiencing a “major emergency” because of the scarcity of rain. A global charity warns that about 10 million of the world’s poorest people would possibly face hunger in 2015 due to poor production of crops caused by one of the strongest El Niño.

The charity, Oxfam International, said among the countries currently facing climate problems, at least 4.5 million people in Ethiopia are in need of food aid because of rainfall scarcity. Other poorer countries are at high risk of global emergency due to lack of systems to sustain the global consequences of El Niño, which makes them more vulnerable.

The UK Met Office predicts that the 2015 El Niño could be stronger than any previous conditions recorded since 1950. Millions of people will potentially suffer from a lack of access to potable water. Beyond this, a possible food price increase will also cause millions to suffer, which would lead the poor to “miss out again,” Oxfam said.

The new Oxfam report shows that the current El Niño will be as strong as of one in 1998. The past condition caused severe droughts, floods and forest fires that killed 2,000 people and damaged properties worth nearly $33 billion.

To date, Malawi has experienced floods and drought that have curbed the maize production by more than a quarter, and farmers in Central America have suffered a two-year drought. El Niño conditions also reduced the Asian monsoon over India, and there have already been warmer temperatures in Australia, Southeast Asia as well as southern Africa.

El Niño has recently pushed the government of Indonesia to declare drought in its 34 provinces, while in Papua New Guinea, 2 million people were reported to suffer from crops shrinking because of heat. Meanwhile, some experienced extreme frosts in highlands in PNG, and heavy rainfalls in South America.

The report also pointed the disastrous impact of drought because of the failure to respond to emergencies. In 2011, more than 260,000 people died in Africa because of poor rains, which lack proper intervention.

To date, Oxfam had already began working with communities, including in Papua New Guinea to reverse crop failures, according to Dr Helen Szoke, chief executive of Oxfam Australia. The farmers are being guided to plant drought-resistant seeds and to collect rainwater.

“People who rely on subsistence farming aren’t necessarily prepared for frosts or drought, which is when food security becomes an issue,” Szoke said.

The current El Niño is expected to end in January 2016, but may become more frequent, the Guardian reported. Szoke suggests emission reductions, avoiding use of old technologies and addressing the current climate issues could help halt the impacts of climate change, especially El Niño.

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