Diversity and distribution patterns in the flora of Mount Kinabalu

El Niño events, the most spectacular instances of interannual variability in the ocean, have profound consequences for climate and the ocean ecosystem. The 1982-1983 El Niño is perhaps the strongest in this century. El Niño events usually have followed a predictable pattern, but the recent event differs markedly. The physical oceanography of this El Niño is described and compared with that of earlier events.