La Niña is a global weather pattern based on lower-than-average temperatures in a current in the east-central equatorial Pacific Ocean. This shifts rainfall and other climate conditions compared to El Niño, when this ocean current is warmer than average.
The original definition of La Niña was confined to describing the periodically cooler temperatures off the coasts of Peru and Ecuador.
Generally, one would expect to find that changes in temperature in the "east-central Pacific" would be reflected in a country such as Peru, which sits very nicely at the eastern edge of the Pacific. Surprisingly, the effects are felt in many locations around the world.
In Spanish, "La Niña" means "The Girl" and "El Niño" means "The (male) Child".
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