El Niño has intensified into a “super-severe” event and will continue until February 2027, raising the risk of floods, drought and extreme heat in many countries, the United Nations warned on Thursday.
“This could have a devastating impact on communities and economies around the world,” said Celeste Sauro, director-general of the United Nations World Meteorological Organization.
“We are already seeing disruption and destruction from droughts and floods, and we expect these impacts to increase as El Niño intensifies,” Sauro added.
Countries in Asia-Pacific and Latin America will bear the brunt of the immediate impact, but the entire world will be affected in areas such as food and energy.
Boats on Lake Guilla as water levels drop due to drought in Metapan, El Salvador, Tuesday, September 1, 2026. El Salvador declared a state of emergency on August 25 as an El Niño-related drought affects communities across the country.
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Oxfam’s August report on El Niño said Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador are experiencing extreme weather and drought, while Indonesia is battling devastating wildfires that are leading to severe crop losses. A weakening of India’s monsoon season is expected to affect crops such as rice, sugar, cotton and soybeans, while Peruvian authorities say the harvest of anchovies, commonly used as livestock feed, is facing a “catastrophic hit”.
Extreme weather events are expected to have unpredictable impacts on energy generation and demand, potentially disrupting hydropower, wind and solar power, oil and gas production and refining operations, and mining.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Thursday that the El Niño phenomenon was “supermassifying before our eyes.”
“The world is in the extreme weather zone. There is now a race between increasing risks and our efforts to take action on climate change and protect people. We must win the race.”
El Niño occurs when ocean temperatures in the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean rise by 0.5°C above the long-term average.
According to WMO’s latest survey, sea surface temperatures in July were more than 2 degrees Celsius higher than normal, and ranged between 2.2 and 2.6 degrees Celsius above normal from late July to mid-August. WMO said there was “even more unusual warmth” below the ocean surface, with subsurface temperatures more than 8 degrees Celsius warmer than average in July and early August.
El Niño, which means “little boy” in Spanish, is a naturally occurring climate pattern that fluctuates with La Niña, which means “little girl,” every two to seven years.
