El Niño is coming and people in every part of the world are getting worried. El Niño is a mysterious weather pattern. It begins about every four years with a sudden warming of the eastern Pacific Ocean along the equator. \nEl Niño is caused by changes in air movements. These changes disrupt ocean currents. The warm water in the Pacific Ocean moves south along the west coast of South America. It makes the cold water off the coast of Peru and Ecuador warmer. The warming of the ocean water kills many fish, sea animals, and sea birds. But El Niño’s effects are not limited to the local area. The warming of the ocean affects weather patterns throughout the world. \nEl Niño is a Spanish term. It means “the male child” and usually refers to the baby Jesus. Fishermen in Peru began calling the strange weather event El Niño because it usually arrived around Christmas time. Today the term El Niño is only used when the weather event is big enough and warm enough to bring worldwide effects.