2 October, 2026

Super El Niño is here. You’ll have gathered from the headlines that it’s the strongest in 1,000 years, that it is going to unleash weather chaos, and that it could cause half a million deaths in the next six months.

It’s unlikely it’s passed you by, and it’s unlikely it hasn’t caused you at least some fleeting concern, but it’s quite possible that you’ve not really spent much time getting to grips with it. El Niño in itself is not a product of climate change, although anthropogenic warming is supercharging it this year. It is a natural climate phenomenon that occurs every few years, produced by a warm patch of water in the Pacific Ocean that drives weather patterns around the world. It can affect whether scallop fishers off the coast of the US have a good season, influence hurricane activity thousands of miles away, and even interact with dust blown across the Atlantic from the Sahara.

If you have even the slightest interest in what it is, why it occurs and why climate scientists are so concerned by this year’s El Nino, we’d highly recommend a recent episode of the always-wonderful Ologies podcast, where NASA climate scientist Dr Marshall Shepherd goes deep into the phenomenon, discussing weather systems, Dolly Parton, the ethics of cryptobetting on climate disasters and why it’s going to be a good year for roofing companies in the Bay Area. It’s insightful, funny and a great example of clear and effective science communication. Batten down the hatches.

By Claire Jost