"From a terrestrial viewpoint, it's been warm, but recently dry, and no obvious effects on the plants and animals (vegetation drying up, as usual in this season although very late). So although we had the usual rainy season pox outbreaks last Feb-July, it has gone away again since the rain stopped. The major effects should come when the rain starts again, and it looks as though it might just have done so, this week. It has been raining hard every day for the last three, but before that nothing much for weeks. This may be just a blip, but it could be the start of the Nino proper, when the classic effects should start to appear."--Alan Tye <atye@fcdarwin.org.ec>.