El Nino may lead to milder chiles–Western and international impacts

A couple of recent news stories describe some of the impacts of El Nino on other parts of the country and the world.  The High Country News explains the relationship between wetter conditions in New Mexico and less spicy chile peppers as well as other impacts on Western agricultural areas in an article found here.  Yahoo provided an international look at how El Nino affects the climate in many agricultural regions across the globe in a map and article found here.  And in an article earlier today, a Reuters article was published on Yahoo describing how Asian governments are already taking steps to reduce the impacts of this phenomenon, which in the past caused social unrest due to high food prices driven by drought conditions.  You can find that story here.  NOAA has predicted that there is a 75 percent chance of El Nino developing by late summer.