‘Simply staggering’: Rapidly developing ‘super El Niño’ on track to peak in December
The ongoing “super El Niño” is likely to peak at the end of 2026 and push average global temperatures to… The post ‘Simply staggering’: Rapidly developing ‘super El Niño’ on track to peak in December appeared first on Carbon Brief .
A record-breaking El Niño event, described by Carbon Brief as "simply staggering," is on track to peak in December 2026 and push global temperatures to unprecedented levels, according to the latest climate update. Dr. Zeke Hausfather, Carbon Brief's climate science contributor, stated that this year's El Niño has been developing rapidly and reaching record-high temperatures.
The Niño3.4 region, which measures sea surface temperatures in the central Pacific, has already broken several records, with the daily anomaly reaching 3.11C in September and the monthly anomaly peaking at 2.84C since records began in the mid-1800s. Models predict that the anomaly will peak at around 4C in December, surpassing the previous record of 3.4C set in 2015-16.
This year's El Niño has already caused numerous climate impacts, including wildfires in Indonesia and "super typhoons" in the western Pacific. The intensity of this El Niño event is attributed to human-induced greenhouse gas emissions, which amplify the natural climate pattern's effects.
Written by urgent.news from Carbon Brief's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
