Op-Ed: 'There Is Still Time to Get Ready' for Super El Niño

A massive pulse of warm water lurking beneath the Pacific is about to reshape the world's weather, and a climate scientist is warning there's no excuse to be caught off guard. In a New York Times op-ed, Dr. Jeffrey Shaman describes how the current El Niño—already heating parts of the central and eastern equatorial Pacific to more than 3 degrees Celsius above normal—has an unusually strong level of agreement across more than two dozen climate models. Those models now suggest elevated El Niño conditions are likely to persist through the end of 2026, raising the odds of disruptive weather worldwide and a notably harsh Northern Hemisphere summer in 2027.

Shaman lays out what that could mean on the ground: drier conditions and potential food stress in Southern Africa, India, and Indonesia; more rain and flood risk in places like Kenya, eastern China, and the southeastern United States; higher wildfire danger from California to the western Mediterranean; and elevated health risks from extreme heat. His argument: these forecasts are specific enough that governments, businesses, and communities should be shoring up health systems, power grids, food supplies, and disaster plans now. "There is still time to get ready," he writes. For the full analysis and concrete preparation ideas, read Shaman's op-ed in the New York Times.