Take GOod care.

You know what my friends? This hot weather is gonna last till June cos it's caused by the El nino effect that warmifies the whole world, according to those scientists.


We are all in this together. Please do take very good care of yourself man!!! God bless. And let's keep one another in prayer.


On a side note, what is the el nino effect and its impacts on health?

The term El Niño is nowadays used to refer to the periods of strong and prolonged warm weather, which influence the climate worldwide. The periods of the warm waters in eastern Pacific (El Niño) and periods of cooler waters (La Niña) are accompanied by changes of air pressure in the east and west Pacific: these are called the Southern Oscillation. The whole cycle is now referred to as El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The effects of La Niña are generally less pronounced and tend to be the opposite of those of El Niño.

• El Niño events occur irregularly, about every 2-7 years.
• They last from 12 to 18 months.
• The El Niño event begins with the weakening of the prevailing winds in the Pacific and a shift in rainfall patterns.
• The events are associated with extreme weather (floods and drought) in countries surrounding the Pacific and much further afield.
• Prolonged dry periods may occur in South-east Asia, Southern Africa and Northern Australia and heavy rainfall, sometimes with flooding, in Peru and Ecuador.
• During a typical El Niño, the Asian monsoon usually weakens and is pushed towards equator, often bringing summer drought to north-west and central regions of India and heavy rainfall in the north-east.
• The regions where El Niño has a strong effect on climate are those with the least resources : southern Africa, parts of South America, South-east Asia.

DENGUE

Dengue is the most important viral tropical disease transmitted by mosquitoes.

The mosquitoes that transmit dengue breed in containers and are less sensitive to rainfall patterns, but higher temperatures associated with El Niño may have an effect on the transmission of the virus. The connection between the weather conditions and dengue transmission and outbreaks is not yet clear; even if the weather conditions were favourable for transmission, the local population may be already immune to the prevalent virus.

Preliminary studies have shown a link between the El Niño Southern Oscillation and incidence of dengue in countries where the El Niño Southern Oscillation has a strong effect on the weather (e.g. some Pacific Island nations and Indonesia). In 1998, many countries in Asia suffered an unusually high level of dengue and dengue haemorrhagic fever, some of which may be attributable to El Niño-related extreme weather.

AUSTRALIAN ENCEPHALITIS

Outbreaks of Australian Encephalitis (Murray Valley Encephalitis - MVE), another mosquito-transmitted disease, occur in temperate south-east Australia after heavy rainfall and flooding associated with La Niña events. There is some evidence that outbreaks of Ross River virus infection are linked with La Niña also, but this is less certain that in the case of MVE. The public health impact of Ross River infection is greater than MVE in terms of number of people affected.

RIFT VALLEY FEVER

Rift Valley Fever (RVF) is a mosquito transmitted viral disease, which primarily affects cattle, but can spread to the local human population. Outbreaks of human disease in eastern Africa always follow episodes of heavy rain (although in that region, El Niño is not always associated with heavy rainfall). A severe outbreak of disease occurred following excessive rainfall in north-eastern Kenya and southern Somalia during the 1997-98 El Niño. The rainfall patterns were unusually heavy for El Niño, resulting in flooding and major outbreaks of malaria and cholera.

Adapted from WHO.