UN warns El Nino could be strongest on record as it urges world to prepare

The current El Nino could reach a strength never seen in modern records, United Nations officials warned on Wednesday, calling on governments to act now to limit the damage. "The current El Nino event could be unprecedented in strength. Literally off the monitoring charts that we have used for the past four decades," Celeste Saulo, secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), told reporters in Geneva. "El Nino will peak towards the end of 2026, but its impacts will be felt long after that," she added. According to the WMO's latest global seasonal climate updates, sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific, where the phenomenon originates, could climb as high as 3.8C above average between November and January.