Australia's weather bureau warned on Tuesday that an El Niño weather pattern has formed in the tropical Pacific and could intensify in the second half of 2026, becoming one of the strongest events recorded in seven decades.
Forecasters expect the weather phenomenon to bring excessive rainfall to the Americas and hot, dry conditions across Asia, where crop planting is already being disrupted, raising concerns about food supplies in the world's most populous region.
Sea surface temperatures in the region have exceeded El Niño thresholds, while atmospheric indicators are all aligned with the phenomenon, Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said in a statement.
"Forecasts are pointing towards a strong to very strong El Niño event, based on the extent of warming in the central tropical Pacific," it said.
"Around half of the models indicate this event could peak at levels among the highest observed since 1950."
Scientists have said climate change is likely to intensify the effects of this year's El Niño.
The bureau said El Niño, a periodic warming of sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean, is associated with reduced rainfall during winter and spring, particularly along Australia's east coast, as well as higher daytime temperatures across southern parts of the country.
The weather phenomenon is particularly damaging to Australia because it affects agricultural production in a country that ranks among the world's largest exporters of wheat, sugar and beef.
The most recent El Niño, which occurred between 2023 and 2024, contributed to Australia's driest three-month period on record.
One of the strongest El Niño events on record, which occurred in 2015 and 2016, brought widespread drought and reduced grain and oilseed production.
Foreign ministers meeting in Istanbul on Friday warned that renewed military strikes on Iran could deepen the regional conflict, urging diplomatic ...
Georgia’s Constitutional Court has extended hearings in a case seeking to ban five opposition parties, with proceedings now set to continue u...
Pakistan and the European Union have agreed to step up counterterrorism cooperation as security concerns over Afghanistan grow and tensions between...
Saudi Aramco has ordered staff to evacuate its headquarters amid escalating Houthi attacks on the kingdom. Two people were killed in an attack on Dammam airport, while Iran's IRGC Navy claimed strikes on seven vessels and warned the U.S. of a wider response.
Russian strikes on Ukraine overnight killed at least two people and injured 15 others, including two children, Ukrainian authorities said. Meanwhile, Russia said it had intercepted the vast majority of 630 Ukrainian drones launched towards Moscow.
Russia is willing in principle to resume peace talks with Ukraine and the United States in November, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said after President Vladimir Putin met U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg.
Israeli military bulldozers have begun demolishing buildings in the West Bank city of Hebron on Friday, 23 October, following armed clashes with Palestinians that left two Israeli soldiers dead, according to the Israeli military.
Super typhoon Champi is set to batter Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture from Friday (23 October), bringing violent winds, torrential rain and waves up to 11 metres high, as airlines cancel flights and organisers scrap a major festival.
Azerbaijan is seeking international investment in a 3,000-kilometre green energy corridor to Europe, with banks, investors and energy companies gathering in Baku on Thursday to discuss financing for the ambitious project.
A female dusky shark trapped in a canal in Busan, South Korea, for more than a month has finally returned to the open sea after a successful rescue operation on Wednesday (21 October), following two failed attempts.
The world is on course for dangerous levels of global warming despite international climate pledges, with greenhouse gas emissions hitting record highs and the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C target increasingly out of reach, according to a UN assessment.
As Armenia prepares to host COP17, the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, new projections reveal a widening gap between global conservation promises and what countries are on track to deliver by 2030.
Here’s your AnewZ Daily Brief for 15 October 2026, featuring the top five culture and entertainment stories from around the world.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment