'Behemoth' 2026 El Niño to upend weather, UN warns

Key Points:

• The United Nations' weather agency has described the current El Niño as a "behemoth" and "wrecking ball," warning it will cause extreme heat, droughts, and floods across Latin America, Africa, Asia, and the Pacific with severe humanitarian impacts.
• This El Niño event is already at record strength and is expected to intensify further, potentially becoming the strongest on record, with central Pacific temperatures forecast to rise more than 6 degrees Fahrenheit above normal by December.
• The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) cautioned that extreme weather events will multiply and cascade as El Niño strengthens, with high confidence that the event will last for several months and have long-lasting effects beyond its peak.
• El Niño's impacts are compounded by human-caused climate change, contributing to record global temperatures and exacerbating effects such as sea level rise, droughts, and flooding.
• In the U.S., El Niño is expected to bring stormier weather, especially in the South, with increased risks of flash floods and mudslides; California has declared a state of emergency due to concerns about coastal flooding and infrastructure vulnerability.