What does EASTPAC stand for?

El Nino occurs when unusually warm surface waters form over vast stretches of the eastern Pacific Ocean and can affect weather systems worldwide.

The condition, which is linked to warmer surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean during the latter months of the year, is already being associated with an intense drought in south Asia, said the World Meteorological Organisation.

El Nino is an occasional seasonal warming of the central and eastern Pacific Ocean that upsets normal weather patterns from the western seaboard of Latin America to east Africa, and potentially has a global impact on climate.

El Nino is a periodic warming of the eastern Pacific Ocean, accompanied by changes in air pressure over the ocean, that can change weather patterns over much of the world.

A ship cruising through the eastern Pacific Ocean 10 million years ago might have found itself plowing through mats of green algae spread across vast areas of the ocean, according to two researchers who have found the fossilized remains of these ancient algal carpets.

An El Nino, which means "little boy" in Spanish, is driven by an abnormal warming of the eastern Pacific Ocean, and creates havoc in weather patterns across the Asia-Pacific region.

A tropical depression has formed in the eastern Pacific Ocean, but the National Hurricane Center said there is currently no threat to land.

Even as the United States has increased interdiction in the Caribbean and as Mexico has curtailed incoming flights by huge cargo planes stuffed with cocaine, traffickers have made the eastern Pacific Ocean - with its vast open seas and virtually unpatrolled shipping lanes and coastlines - the primary trafficking route for cocaine entering the United States, according to Mexican and U.