UN chief warns: El Niño pours gasoline on a planet already burning

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has issued a stark warning: the increasingly powerful El Niño weather phenomenon is pouring "gasoline on a planet that is already burning," dramatically amplifying the climate crisis and threatening extreme weather events worldwide. Scientists monitoring a critical Pacific Ocean region have reported that El Niño has reached its most intense level ever recorded, maintaining this peak for 15 consecutive weeks.

"We are already in a summer of extreme weather – record heat, apocalyptic wildfires in Spain, France and far beyond. But according to the latest research, this is just a prelude," Guterres stated, emphasizing that humanity is navigating "uncharted waters." He added, "The climate crisis is in high gear."

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For two months ago I warned that El Niño was at our doorstep. Now it is inside the house – and turning up the heat.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) corroborates these concerns, forecasting that El Niño will likely unleash extreme heat, severe droughts, and heavy rainfall across the globe, with effects extending into the spring of 2027. This prediction comes as Southern Europe grapples with devastating wildfires and severe drought conditions. France and Spain have been particularly hard-hit, with hundreds of thousands evacuated at the peak of the crisis.

Researchers highlight that human-caused climate change is intensifying these extreme weather patterns. While spring rainfall was below average in many parts of Europe, the study by Mariam Zachariah at Imperial College London points to climate-driven heat as the primary driver of the current severe drought conditions. A group of scientists concluded that human-induced climate change makes droughts in Europe more intense, with extreme heat being the main factor behind the parched conditions, rather than simply a lack of precipitation.

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We are in uncharted waters. The climate crisis is in high gear.