ScienceDaily (July 24, 2012) — Emerging once every two to seven years in the equatorial Pacific, El Niño causes disorder across the globe and for the global economy. But in the past ten years, it has changed its face. It is increasingly taking the form of Modoki, 'similar but different' as it was baptised by the Japanese team who first discovered this less tumultuous cousin that provokes droughts in India and Australia. Recent research has described the physical manifestations of this El Niño variant, which is centred in the central pacific, unlike its eastern relative. The impact on marine biology and its probable effects on fishing still need to be examined. To achieve this, IRD researchers and their partners from the Legos(1) and Locean(3) laboratories have studied its effects on the very first links in the food chain.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120724104302.htm