El Niño breaks warming records in the Pacific Ocean, foreshadowing more extreme weather to come, UN says

By Olivia Le Poidevin
CBC News
October 21, 2026
Category: Health & Safety
Region: International

The El Niño weather pattern could cause a record rise in ocean temperatures in the Pacific as it barrels ‌around the globe like a “wrecking ball” causing floods and droughts, UN officials said on Wednesday. The new World Meteorological Organization (WMO) seasonal outlook predicted the El Niño event would become extremely strong, ​with temperatures in the central Pacific rising about ​3.8 C above normal between November and January, peaking around December. …It is a natural climate ‌pattern and is not caused by climate change. However, global warming can make El Niños more intense because the baseline temperature is already higher. …”This El Niño ​is the behemoth, it ⁠is a wrecking ball. It will tear through Latin America, Eastern and Southern Africa, Asia and the Pacific with extreme heat, droughts and flood,” WMO and the UN ⁠under-secretary-general ⁠for humanitarian affairs and emergency ​relief coordinator Tom Fletcher said, warning of massive humanitarian consequences.

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