As the El Nino weather event has peaked, forecasters are predicting what may be next for the world’s climate.
Bloomberg reports weather models predict El Nino will decline in coming months and conditions will return to neutral during the second quarter with a chance of La Nina in the second half of 2016, according to Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology.
La Nina is a cooling in the Pacific Ocean, sometimes thought of as El Nino’s opposite.
The two are extreme phases of a naturally occurring cycle as La Nina follows about 50 percent of El Nino weather events. La Nina can also agitate agricultural markets as it changes weather.
A large part of the agricultural U.S. tends to dry out during La Nina events while parts of Australia and Indonesia can be wetter than normal.
Citigroup Inc. has said that a transition to a strong La Nina may present significant upside potential for grains price volatility.
The previous La Nina began in 2010 and endured into 2012. Conditions typically last between 9 months and 12 months.
