"Beginning in the summer, El Niño typically peaks around December or the following January." 🧵

"#ElNiño can contribute to severe droughts in one part of the world and heavy rainfall in others — both of which can disrupt growing seasons in key breadbaskets of the world."

Frida Garza for Grist.org: https://grist.org/food-and-agriculture/the-super-el-nino-is-here-what-happens-next-could-upend-farming-worldwide/

In 1877, one of the strongest El Niños ever recorded was associated with historic droughts across Asia, as well as in parts of Brazil and northern Africa. These droughts, “along with colonial policies, contributed to famines in many regions which were really devastating,” said Deepti Singh @climatechirper.bsky.social.

The fatalities associated with these famines were upward of 50 million people. Study: https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/clim/31/23/jcli-d-18-0159.1.xml

#colonies #BritishEmpire #India #food #agriculture #droughts #famine #floods #farming

From climate denial to agnotology (the study of how ignorance and doubt are deliberately, culturally, or politically manufactured)

"It’s worth noting, human-made greenhouse gas emissions are the main driver of rising global average temperatures. However, El Niño can tip these temperatures to record breaking levels." >>
https://theconversation.com/the-weather-bureau-has-just-declared-an-el-nino-what-could-this-mean-for-australia-285376

"Agnotology is the study of deliberate, culturally cultivated ignorance or doubt, typically to sell a product, influence opinion, or win favour, particularly through the publication of inaccurate or misleading scientific data (i.e. disinformation). More generally, the term includes the condition where more knowledge of a subject creates greater uncertainty." >>
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnotology

Fernández Pinto, M. and A. Leuschner (2026). Epistemic Intimidation and Illegitimate Value-Influence in Science. In: The Routledge Handbook of Values and Science, ed. by K. Elliott and T. Richards, 304–314. >>
https://annaleuschner.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/final-version-forthcoming-routledge-handbook-values-and-science.pdf

#FossilFuels #ignorance #GHG #InsuranceAffordability #experience vs #ClimateDenial #denial #agnotology #CorporateInterests #lobby #CulturallyCultivatedIgnorance #coal #climate #droughts #bushfires #ElNiño #science #ClimateScience #AMOC #HABs #EpistemicIntimidation #ClimateAction
Image: Hot ocean, hot Earth

El Nino is here and scientists fear it'll be big, bad and costly with heat, floods, droughts, fires

Experts said the #ElNiño, a natural warming cycle, should further heat a globe already warming from #FossilFuel pollution and will likely turbocharge #ExtremeWeather across the planet. Meteorologists forecast it will rival—or exceed—a record El Niño that began in 1997 and helped trigger billions of dollars in damage from #HeatWaves, #floods, #droughts, #tornadoes and #wildfires.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officially confirmed the existence of the El Niño, which is a warming of the #Pacific near the equator that affects weather patterns across the globe. #NOAA's announcement said there's a 63% chance that the El Niño will get so intense this late fall and early winter that it "would rank among the largest El Niño events in the historical record going back to 1950."

https://phys.org/news/2026-06-el-nino-scientists-itll-big.html

#ClimateScience
#ClimateCrisis

“#Heatwaves , #droughts and #floods , land degradation, species #extinction and #pollution all undermine human well-being. Any measure of #sustainability must assess and account for changes in #naturalresources . Destroying them to manufacture goods and produce services will hamper, not boost, growth and prosperity” https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-01299-w

Here in the US, policy makers are locked into zero sum thinking. All that matters in their eyes is unhampered endless growth (measured by nationally by #GDP) and compound interest. This is the house that Milton Friedman’s market fundamentalism built.

You don’t have to be an expert to look around and see that this perspective is driving the interrelated polycrises going on in the world today. Any hope of change requires a break from that mentality. Unfortunately, far too many people profit from the status quo.

Short term thinking is an existential crisis for humanity.

From #flood to #famine: Rainfall chaos fuels Africa’s drought crisis

#ClimateChange is intensifying #water scarcity across #Africa while also exacerbating #droughts Despite a brief uptick in #rainfall across the continent, critical water shortages persist, particularly in major river basins such as the Zambezi.^

The diminished rainfall over the past year has led to reduced river flows, triggering severe ecological, economic, and humanitarian impacts. This trend is projected to continue.

Rainfall patterns are becoming increasingly unpredictable, with the #Sahel experiencing more rainfall recently, while Central and Southern #Africa are facing significant drying trends.

https://www.africanews.com/2025/07/04/from-flood-to-famine-rainfall-chaos-fuels-africas-drought-crisis/

#ClimateCrisis