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Pacific News Minute: El Niño Triggers Drought Emergencies in Pacific Nations

Vilimaka Foliaki / Flickr
Vilimaka Foliaki / Flickr

The National Weather Service just upgraded the current El Niño from moderate to strong - which could mean hurricanes here in Hawaii even after the official end of the season on November 30th.  Farmers and ranchers are already being warned to expect hotter and drier weather this winter.  But nothing like the problems the weather pattern is causing in Pacific nations to the south and east.  More from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute.

The highlands of the Solomon Islands are being whipsawed by severe frosts and a drought.  Now in its fourth month, many subsistence farmers who rely heavily on yams have lost their entire crop.  Tonga's agriculture ministry reports that El Niño has devastated 80% of locally grown taro, and advises farmers to grow smaller quantities that can be watered more easily.

In Vanuatu - Radio Australia reports at least one infant dead in the north of Tanna Island, with 19 more children treated for malnutrition in the past few weeks.  Doctors said that government supplies of rice, noodles, and canned fish just don't supply the nutrients babies need.  Teachers report that older children struggle to concentrate in class, and suffer from diarrhea after drinking contaminated water.

Maybe no place is worse off than Papua New Guinea - where dozens are already reported dead and as many as two million at risk for famine and disease.  The governor of Chimbu Province told Radio New Zealand that “300-thousand people there have been affected by the combination of frost and drought. Schools are closing, public servants stay home to try to save food gardens instead of going to work,” he said, “and the hospital is closing.”  The Government in Port Moresby is under fire for lack of response. Earlier this week, the government instituted severe budget cuts after drops in commodity prices lead to dramatic shortfalls in tax revenue.

Forecasts call for this El Niño to continue well into next year.

Over 36 years with National Public Radio, Neal Conan worked as a correspondent based in New York, Washington, and London; covered wars in the Middle East and Northern Ireland; Olympic Games in Lake Placid and Sarajevo; and a presidential impeachment. He served, at various times, as editor, producer, and executive producer of All Things Considered and may be best known as the long-time host of Talk of the Nation. Now a macadamia nut farmer on Hawaiʻi Island, his "Pacific News Minute" can be heard on HPR Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.
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