UN: El Niño Nearing Record Strength, World Braces for Extreme Weather

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO), a UN agency, has warned that the natural climate phenomenon known as El Niño could reach record intensity this season, sharply raising the risk of droughts, wildfires and extreme heat across the globe.

El Niño is linked to abnormal warming of surface waters in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean and affects atmospheric currents, wind patterns and rainfall distribution worldwide. Scientists forecast that the phenomenon will continue to strengthen, peaking by late autumn, with its effects on global climate potentially lingering as far as spring 2027.

According to the WMO, the risk of drought and wildfires is particularly high in Indonesia, India and other parts of Asia, in southern and eastern Australia, in parts of South America, and in southern Africa. Meanwhile, some regions of the US and southern Europe — which have already suffered devastating wildfires this year — could instead see above-average rainfall.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged governments to start preparing now for these new weather extremes. He called for more effective heatwave early-warning systems, affordable cooling solutions in cities and homes, and safer working conditions for people exposed to extreme heat on the job. He specifically pointed to garment industry workers — tens of millions of people, many of whom work in factories that still lack any heat-protection standards.

Guterres stressed that El Niño itself is not the cause of the climate crisis, but its effects compound the long-term warming driven by fossil fuel combustion. "The world must stop feeding this crisis," he said, adding that continued reliance on coal, oil and gas will only lead to a more dangerous future. In his view, it is essential to see each disaster not as an isolated tragedy, but as part of a much larger problem.

Climate scientists note that some of the heat stored in the oceans during El Niño events is released back into the atmosphere, which can temporarily push up the global average temperature. While the El Niño effect itself will fade within a few months, the long-term warming caused by human activity is here to stay.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by ekolist.cz