The rain forest takes an immense breath and then exhales, once every four or five years, as a major global weather pattern plays out, usually heralded by El Nin˜o–Southern Oscillation. While this powerful natural cycle has occurred for many millennia, it is during the past decade that both the climate of Earth and the people living on it have had an increasing influence on the weather pattern itself, with many biological consequences. In Southeast Asia, as also in most of the Neotropics, El Nin˜o accompanies one of the most exuberant outpourings of nature’s diversity. After several years of little activity, the incredibly diverse rain forests suddenly burst into.
