El Niño sets Pacific temperature record as risks mount

A developing El Niño has pushed equatorial Pacific sea-surface temperatures to 3.05 degrees Celsius above normal, the highest anomaly recorded for an El Niño, according to data from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The World Meteorological Organization expects the event to intensify into a very strong episode, with peak intensity forecast by early 2027. The temperature anomaly is well above NOAA’s 2.0-degree threshold for a very strong El Niño. The WMO does not officially use the term “super El Niño,” but has warned of significant effects on temperatures and rainfall. NOAA declared El Niño conditions had begun in June. The developing event could bring extreme heat, drought, flooding and crop losses in different parts of the world. El Niño is the warm phase of a natural climate cycle that recurs every two to seven years, generally when weakening trade winds allow warmer water to build up in the eastern Pacific. It raises global temperatures and alters rainfall patterns, contributing to dry conditions in some regions and heavier rain in others.