‘Jaw-dropping’: Super El Niño bursts through temperature record months ahead of peak

A record-breaking El Niño event is surpassing temperature benchmarks months before its anticipated peak, causing severe climate implications across the globe. The current El Niño has already reached a temperature of 3.05C, which is higher than the 3.02C recorded in late November 2015, the previous highest temperature in 150 years of modern records.

This temperature, measured against the 1991-2020 average, is on the verge of breaking the record, just 0.01C below the 2015 record. Forecasts predict a peak of 4.0C in November and December, described by climate scientists as "mind-blowing" or "Godzilla-level." This super El Niño, likely the largest in at least 1,000 years, will exacerbate an already rapidly warming atmosphere, potentially making 2027 the hottest year ever recorded.

The climate crisis, driven by fossil fuel pollution, is already fueling extreme weather and fatalities, and the El Niño will further intensify these effects. Already, hot and dry conditions in Indonesia have sparked record wildfires and hazardous air pollution, while India's monsoon rains have been curtailed. Drought conditions in Central America and the Caribbean are causing crop losses and disrupting trade.

The World Food Programme warns this could push 50 million people into acute hunger and elevate prices. Intense rains and flooding are expected in Peru, Chile, and the southern US, while the Horn of Africa faces increased downpours, and Australia and southern Africa could experience greater wildfire risk and droughts. The UN World Meteorological Organization has launched its largest mobilization to assist national weather services in delivering life-saving forecasts, with UN Secretary-General António Guterres emphasizing the unprecedented global weather upheaval.