{
  "id": 5354409,
  "title": "New report: El Niño 2026 is now the strongest in 1,000 years. Here’s what that means for your winter forecast",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/03/new-report-el-nino-2026-is-now-the-strongest-in-1-000-years-heres",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-03T15:15:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Fast Company",
    "slug": "fast-company",
    "url": "https://www.fastcompany.com/91600973/super-el-nino-2026-now-strongest-in-1000-years-new-report-winter-forecast-predictions-hurricane-storm-climate-change"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In a landmark study published in Science, researchers from the University of Michigan have determined that the current El Niño event is the strongest it has been in the past 1,000 years. The team reconstructed ocean surface temperatures over the past millennium using fossilized corals from the Galápagos Islands. They found that recent variability in sea surface temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific is greater than anything observed in previous paleorecords. The study's lead author, Julie Cole, an environmental scientist at the University of Michigan, stated that the past 40 years have witnessed stronger El Niño events compared to any time in the last millennium. These stronger events correlate with global warming and result in more powerful effects on weather patterns. Julie Cole further explained that temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean have warmed dramatically in 2026, indicating the onset of a potentially historic El Niño event. This could have significant impacts on weather not only in the Pacific but across the United States and globally. The results of the study provide a long-term framework for understanding the Pacific El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and its effects on ecosystems, infrastructure, and humans worldwide. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center also reported a greater than 90% chance of a \"very strong\" El Niño event during the 2026 hurricane season in the Northern Hemisphere. El Niño is a complex weather pattern characterized by above-average sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean. The normal west-to-east winds weaken, or even blow east, disrupting normal weather patterns and leading to more extreme meteorological events. These changes can result in intensifying storms, flooding, wildfires, and droughts, particularly in the U.S. Southeast and Gulf Coast.",
  "summary": "El Niño is now the strongest it has been in 1,000 years, according to new research from the University of Michigan, which reconstructed ocean surface temperatures over the last millennium by looking at fossilized corals in the Galápagos Islands. The study , published in the journal Science , found a large recent increase in the variability of sea surface temperature in the eastern equatorial…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}