"Hay naku napakainit!", blurted one of my officemates just a few seconds ago, obviously exasperated by the hot and humid day we're having. Not that the aircon in the office is busted. It's just that she just got in after a yosi break. And it's really fucking humid outside. Kung pwede lang magbitbit ng aircon hanggang pag-uwi.
I was supposed to talk about that forwarded e-mail I got from a friend earlier about the 80's, but on the second thought, I think my officemate just gave me a better spur-of-the-moment topic.
Most of us may not be aware about it, but we are already experiencing the El Niño phenomenon - thus the terrible heat and humidity. Pansin nyo ba - di ba dapat nga tag-ulan na ngayon? Synonymous na nga sa ating mga Pinoy ang "pasukan" at "tag-ulan" eh.
But no! Ala-una na ng gabi magigising ka pa rin sa init. At talaga namang bawat kilos mo tatagaktak agad ang pawis mo. Pag commuter ka pa, nakikita mo pati braso ng katabi mo nag-a-amutik na sa init (blek!).
And the weather experts are saying it will get worse as the yearend draws near - how's that for a hot news?
Quick fact: the term 'El Nino' was originally used by the Peruvian fishermen to refer to that warm ocean current off the South American coast that extends to the Peruvian waters. The phenomenon usually occurs during the Christmas season - thus the name.
How it happens is actually a little too complicated to explain - I can't fully grasp the whole thing myself - but here's a try (feel ko mag-Ernie Baron ngayon eh heheh): El Niño is a pool of warm water, stretching about the size of Europe, appearing off Peru every two to seven years. There's what's called the "trade winds" blowing westbound, normally pushing this swath of warm water from the South American coast toward the Western Pacific coasts and holding it there. At times, the trade winds weaken or, worse, move to the opposite direction. When this happens, the warm water that piled up near Indonesia and Australia moves back across the Pacific toward South America. Its this reorientation of water that brings about the El Niño phenomenon.
And if you think El Niño is just all about the extreme heat and the untimely warm weather - well, hell, it's not. Ocean currents affect the world's weather pattern big time. The trapped heat in the ocean waters that is El Niño upsets the normal flow of thermal energy, eventually creating havoc in the water cycle - from evaporation to cloud formation to the birth of storms. This ocean-warming phenomenon disrupts the normal behavior of weather around the world, so much that it can actually create a new weather pattern on its own once it begins, affecting several countries in different ways - extreme heat along the tropics, huge storms in California, droughts in Australia, and rainy winters in Texas.
The Australian government is already preparing measures regarding the El Niño phenomenon as its predicted occurrence this year will definitely worsen the situation in their already drought-stricken regions. The United States has been continuously monitoring the Pacific ocean waters and the development of El Niño via the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association's buoy monitoring system.
Meanwhile, in the Philippines, the administration and the opposition are still in the heat of getting even with each other, and there's a continuous trend of showbiz personalities infiltrating politics like flies swarming around a rotten fruit - the latest of whom reportedly being FPJ. Ganda di ba?
Putang ina.
Sorry I was not able to update my blogs for days. I thought of adding a Father's Day post for my Tatay last Sunday, but then I realized the PC at home's busted and I have yet to visit Greenhills to buy a new hard disk to make it work again...and so the urge to post died faster than a bubble bursting in mid-air.
Then Monday came and I had to isolate myself from the rest of the world for a few days to focus on the QA for our monthly magazine Rolling Pin Asia. RPA, by the way, is our monthly publication catering to the hospitality industry, distributed in 35 countries, and causing a regular pain in the neck (literally speaking) to the people involved in producing it. I, for one, have been straining my eyes 'til they hurt since last week, proofreading and evaluating the RPA ads and articles, making sure that the layout was properly done, the information correct and updated. And today we're scheduled to burn all the files so we can have them sent through FedEx later this evening to Hong Kong for the publication process - thank God!
Until then, the Creative people and I are in the middle of labor pains in delivering the July baby that is the RPA. Right now, I'm still waiting for the mock-up of the magazine pages, which I will be looking at to ensure that everything's in its proper place. Shecks, sana gabi na....
