Unprecedented "Super El Niño" Threatens Global Climate: WFP Warns Millions Face Food Insecurity

What began roughly nine months ago as a shift in wind patterns across a remote stretch of the Western Pacific Ocean has now escalated into an unprecedented El Niño event.

The China Meteorological Administration recently released its latest monitoring report on the phenomenon, indicating that El Niño continues to intensify. Experts project it could peak around November this year as the strongest "Super El Niño" on record. The event is set to exert a profound influence on autumn and winter weather patterns across China and globally, as well as the spring and summer climate next year. Consequently, the risk of extreme weather worldwide and within China will rise significantly over the next six months.

What is El Niño?

El Niño refers to a climate pattern characterized by sustained, abnormally warm sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean. Under normal conditions, the equatorial Pacific exhibits a "warm in the west, cool in the east" pattern. During an El Niño event, temperatures in this region surge unnaturally, disrupting global atmospheric circulation and unleashing extreme weather events around the World.

Data released on September 14 by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) showed that sea surface temperatures have breached the 2°C anomaly threshold, officially elevating the phenomenon to a "Super El Niño."

What Are the Global Impacts?

A Super El Niño typically drives temperatures to record highs globally, bringing increased rainfall to East Africa and the southern United States, while precipitating severe droughts across South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia, and Southern Africa.

This year's event has plunged Southeast Asia into months of unrelenting drought. In Indonesia, wildfires spreading across Sumatra and Kalimantan had burned over 200,000 hectares by September.

Simultaneously, abnormally warm Pacific waters have funneled immense energy into tropical storms. In early September 2026, the Pacific Ocean saw a rare convergence of three simultaneous hurricanes: Lowvel and Karina both reached Category 4 intensity, followed shortly by the rapid intensification of Marie.

The consequences are particularly acute along the South American coast. Due to persistent oceanic warming, the Peruvian government extended its anchovy fishing ban in June 2026 without specifying an end date, causing global fishmeal and fish oil production to plummet.

Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP) warned that this powerful El Niño could push nearly 49 million more people in the world's most vulnerable regions into acute food insecurity by the end of 2027.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), rain-fed crops such as corn and rice are at the highest risk, with widespread drought threatening harvest yields from Southern Africa and the Sahel to South and Southeast Asia.

Climate scientists also estimate that extreme heat fueled by the Super El Niño over the next six months could result in more than 450,000 deaths worldwide. Tropical nations—including Nigeria, Indonesia, Sudan, India, and Brazil—are projected to bear the heaviest toll.

(Sources: 中國氣象局、NOAA、世界糧食計劃署、聯合國糧農組織、香港新聞網)