El Ni ñ o-linked decreases in soil moisture could trigger massive tropical-plant die offs

(DOE/Los Alamos National Laboratory) New research has found that El Ni ñ o events are often associated with droughts in some of the world's more vulnerable tropical regions. Associated with warmer than average ocean temperatures in the eastern Pacific, El Ni ñ os can in turn influence global weather patterns and tropical precipitation, and these changes can lead to massive plant die-offs if other extreme factors are also at play.
Source: EurekAlert! - Biology - Category: Biology Source Type: news