9 DECEMBER 1997. CHRISTMAS ISLAND (KARIBATI): CLIMATE & SEABIRDS

"The scene on Christmas is eerie! The Atoll is flooded and most roads are impassable. Most birds are gone, leaving non-flying young behind to starve to death. It is quite similar to the effects of the 1982-83 ENSO event. The other events in between (1986-87 and 1990-95) did not cause this total desertion but we had increased mortality of young and slower growth rates. Of course the effect varies by species and sooty terns seem to get particularly hard hit."--BA Schreiber <SchreiberE@aol.com>

Back to The 1997 El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO 97-98)