UN Warns El Niño Will Be a «Wrecking Ball» Devastating Communities, Releases $50 Million for 11 Frontline Countries

Original article: ONU alerta que El Niño es «una bola de demolición» que arrasará con todo a su paso y libera US$ 50 millones para 11 países «en primera línea»

Two UN agencies issued a strong appeal on Wednesday, October 21, for «immediate assistance» to communities already suffering from the impacts of the most intense El Niño climate pattern ever recorded.

The current El Niño episode may be of unprecedented intensity, literally off the charts we have used over the last four decades, peaking towards the end of 2026, but its effects will be felt long after, stated Celeste Saulo, Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

According to the latest WMO Global Seasonal Climate Update, sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific, the epicenter of the extreme El Niño phenomenon, could rise as much as 3.8 °C above average between November 2026 and January 2027.

While a 0.5 °C anomaly is sufficient for the WMO to trigger an El Niño alert, Saulo emphasized concerns that the impact of a 3.8 °C El Niño is without precedent.

Previous El Niño episodes linked to 3 °C anomalies resulted in «significant global impacts,» but «we are beyond that threshold, outside our records, beyond our statistics on what we can expect,» the agency’s head noted. 

«We are already witnessing extreme weather events and expect them to multiply and cascade as El Niño intensifies,» Saulo said.

«But a powerful El Niño does not have to be a recipe for a humanitarian disaster. We have scientific forecasts and early warnings to save lives and protect livelihoods,» added the expert.

Echoing Saulo’s call for preventive efforts to strengthen the resilience of the world’s most vulnerable communities, the UN’s emergency aid chief, Tom Fletcher, described the new El Niño as a «colossus… a wrecking ball likely to impact Latin America, East and Southern Africa, Asia and the Pacific with extreme heat, drought, and floods.

50 Million at Risk of Hunger

The UN warns that around 50 million people could face increased hunger due to this meteorological phenomenon.

According to an estimate from the African Development Bank, the effects of El Niño will cost African countries between $10 billion and $20 billion and lead to a GDP reduction of between one and two percent.

To support resilience efforts, the UN’s top humanitarian official announced the release of over $50 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to assist 11 frontline countries, including Chad, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Somalia, and South Sudan.

«With a potentially devastating El Niño approaching, UN agencies are helping countries integrate disaster risk reduction into shelters and preparedness from the outset, rather than reacting after the disaster occurs,» the United Nations stated.

At this point, they cited Chile as an example, noting that “changes in rainfall patterns have caused deadly floods in several regions” and emphasizing that “in the northern Antofagasta, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) helped build huge barriers to contain torrents of mud and debris.”

We will continue to provide updates.