UN agencies appeal for help to protect weakest nations from super El Niño

United Nations agencies are appealing for help to boost resilience among the world’s most vulnerable communities already being impacted by the strongest El Niño on record.

It is due to peak in December, but the human impact of its associated extreme temperatures, floods and droughts is set to last into 2027 and beyond.

A super version of the weather pattern is defined by sea surface temperatures more than two degrees Celsius above normal in the central Pacific.

"The current event could be unprecedented in strength, literally off the monitoring charts that we have used for the past four decades," said Celeste Saulo, head of the UN's weather and climate agency.

"We are already witnessing extreme weather events and expect this to multiply and cascade as El Niño intensifies," the World Meteorological Organization chief told a press conference in Geneva, alongside the UN aid chief Tom Fletcher.

They issued a joint call for "urgent and coordinated anticipatory action" to protect the most vulnerable communities already living on the edge.

"We cannot stop El Niño, but we can prevent many of its worst human consequences," said Saulo.

Fletcher said the weather system was a "wrecking ball" that would bring havoc to Latin America, eastern and southern Africa, Asia, and the Pacific.

He said the long-term impact "will be felt for months and potentially years to come ... because it's this overlaying of crisis on crisis and crisis".

He cited widespread conflict and displacement, soaring fuel and fertiliser and food prices, and international aid cuts which are also weakening countries’ capacity to respond to the shock.

"The risk is you have tens of millions of people pushed into humanitarian need," he explained, warning that 50 million people could face increased hunger.

Fletcher said the next two weeks were "the critical window to act".Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya need supplies ahead of heavy rains.

Southern Africa needs seeds and livestock. Central America needs livelihood assistance, while Asia and the Pacific must prepare for droughts, floods and cyclones, he said.

However, Fletcher warned that the damage from El Niño would not be limited to countries on the frontline.

"It will create economic shocks for the global economy and drive further conflict, displacement, migration," he said. "I am sounding the alarm that the humanitarian system ... cannot alone cope with a threat on this scale."

He called on countries, development banks and international financial institutions to get money moving "before that damage is done".

Fletcher said he had released $50 million to help 11 countries on the frontline, including Chad, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Somalia, and South Sudan.

El Niño warms surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, bringing worldwide changes in winds, pressure, and rainfall patterns.

It typically takes place every two to seven years and lasts around nine to twelve months.