On Mon, 28 Feb 2000 13:43:35 -0500, Andy Clark wrote:
>One can imagine that the indigenous farmers initially would be
>able to survive such changes. Natural weather cycles such as El
>Niņo already vary farming conditions enormously with droughts and
>floods. Many indigenous farmers cope with these naturally
>occurring fluctuations by conserving seed stock suited to a wide
>range of growing conditions, by storing food in forms such as
>dried potatoes, and by maintaining hardy wild foods that can be
>drawn on in times of extreme weather conditions.
There is some intriguing evidence that the Quechuas (Incas) were
effectively able to *predict* El Ni~o events, based on their
observations of the constellation Pleiades. It seems that atmospheric
conditions changed slightly as El Ni~o began to establish itself, with
the result that very thin, very high clouds made Pleiades appear more
hazy than normal. The phenomenon is very subtle, and cannot be
observed at lower elevations.
Having forecast the El Ni~o, Quechua farmers adjusted their planting
schedules accordingly.
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