While the world is worried about an El Nino forming in the Pacific, a similar phenomenon may be under way in the Indian Ocean Shifting climate patterns in the Indian Ocean, driven by global warming, are likely to increase the frequency of “devastating” weather events for much of Australia, Indonesia and eastern Africa, a study led by Australian researchers has found. Countries around the Indonesian archipelago have been advised to brace for more devastating events that could bring more and severe drought, bushfires and floods to affected countries. While most of the attention has so far been focused on the prospect of an El Nino forming over the Pacific Ocean, a similar phenomenon may be under way in the Indian Ocean that could exacerbate dry and hot conditions for large areas of Australia. Tropical sea-surface temperatures in the eastern Indian Ocean are becoming cool relative to those in the west. This happened in 1997 when surface waters off the coast of Indonesia cooled and the ocean’s predominant westerly winds reversed, leading to catastrophic weather. Fires raged across a drought-stricken Indonesia, and floods across east African nations killed thousands.

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