The Life and Times of El Nino

The massive fluctuations that El Nino causes in the world's weather systems have changed the course of history. Unusually cold winters and the resulting poor crops helped forment the French Revolution. Hitler's march across Russia was halted by one of the harshest winters on record. Severe drought in India in 1877 killed millions while a drop in sea temperatures, leading to dwindling food stocks, precipitated the fall of the mighty Aztecs.

Would these events have happened without the impact of El Nino? This compelling documentary investigates El Nino; its history; its rise from little known occurrence to headline grabbing phenomenon; and whether its devastating power can be accurately predicted, or possibly even harnessed.

Charting the rise of El Nino in the world's consciousness, this intriguing documentary combines history and science to show how this meteorological monster has affected global economy and political history.

As knowledge of El Nino grows, increasingly sophisticated super computer models have been developed to predict global effects and allow vulnerable communities to try to adapt. Scientists are confident that they will soon be able to predict El Nino a year in advance. But now there is a new threat - global warming. The race is now on to find out what effect this will have on El Nino, and the future of this planet.

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