‘Apocalyptic’ El Niño to unleash extreme weather - The Latest
episodePreviously titled “‘Godzilla-level’ El Niño could cause hottest year on record - The Latest” — renamed by the publisher on Sep 7, 2026
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What is the UN’s “Godzilla‑level” El Niño warning and why is it historic?
This is The Guardian.
They're expecting to see droughts in the Amazon. Big hit to the rainy season in India and Southeast Asia. Effectively sort of turn world weather systems on their head. The famine that took place in East Africa in the 1980s that inspired the Live Aid event was caused by an El Nino event. So, you know, that just gives you a sense of just how impactful this can be.
From The Guardian's Today In Focus, this is The Latest with me, Lucy Hoth. We're just coming out of what has felt like a particularly brutal summer of back to back heat waves, one of the hottest on record. And now we've had this incredibly stark warning from the United Nations about the super El Nino that's coming and what it's going to mean. Damien Gale, you're our environment correspondent. What's been the warning from the UN and how serious is it?
So it's the latest report from the World Meteorological Organization. They've been issuing reports on the development of the latest El Niño for quite a few months. And each time they publish one of these reports, it just looks more and more almost apocalyptic, you could say. The scale of this weather event is like something that the World Meteorological Organization are now saying that we haven't seen for over a thousand years.
How does a super El Niño change global weather patterns and cause droughts?
It's been colloquially termed a Godzilla El Nino. Right. And I think that kind of gives a flavour of the kind of impact that people are expecting.
Yeah, this monster El Nino, the type of which we haven't seen in a thousand years. I mean, it's very, very dangerous. It's a very, very dangerous warning. To go back to basics a little bit, what is an El Nino and what's the difference between an El Nino and a super El Nino?
So El Nino is a climatological weather phenomenon. What normally happens is in the Pacific Ocean, you have these trade winds that blow from the east and they carry warm water with them across the ocean. And so you end up with warm water being pushed across the ocean, this heat being pushed across, and then it comes down as rain and you get the monsoon season over in Southeast Asia. Now, what happens with El Nino is that these trade winds weaken or they go into reverse, gorgeous. causing all of these weird cascading effects for our climate that have an effect all around the tropics and then sort of cascade on all across the rest of the world from there.
So what does that actually look like? Because it sounds like you're talking about extreme weather in quite literally all its forms in different parts of the world.
So it manifests in different ways in different parts of the world.
Why could the 2027 El Niño trigger the hottest year on record?
So they're expecting to see droughts in the Amazon, which obviously is already seeing quite a difficult situation around drying out. And this whole idea that it could turn into a savannah. You will see droughts around parts of East Africa, which are obviously well-renowned for the droughts and the kinds of famines that that can cause. that can also lead to. But then in other parts, so on the west coast of the United States, you're going to see more rain around California. You'll see big hit to the rainy season, to the monsoon season in India and Southeast Asia, which will have huge effects there on agriculture. So it will have all of these effects and effectively sort of turn world weather systems on their head for a little bit.
And obviously, the stronger the El Nino, the more these weather systems get turned on their head and the more extreme weather we end up with.
But I mean, as you describe that, you just think of agriculture, don't you? And the impact on food production and supply systems around the world. I mean, the UN has explicitly warned of a hunger crisis that could come from this because of that.
So agriculture, yeah, agriculture is going to be specifically affected and massively affected. But it's not just agriculture. It's also things, you know, this affects so many areas of life. So, for example, already the Panama Canal has been restricted to some shipping because the levels of water in the lakes that feed the Panama Canal have been falling as a result of a lack of rainfall around Central America.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the UN’s “Godzilla‑level” El Niño warning and why is it historic?
0:00–1:35
2
How does a super El Niño change global weather patterns and cause droughts?
1:35–3:03
3
Why could the 2027 El Niño trigger the hottest year on record?
3:03–4:35
4
What are the expected impacts on agriculture and food security worldwide?
4:35–6:02
5
How might the El Niño affect global trade routes like the Panama and Suez Canals?
6:02–8:11
6
What are the geopolitical and justice implications of extreme heat events?
8:11–10:19
7
Why is the UN using dramatic language now and what should governments do?
10:19–11:16
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from Today in Focus
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