Super El Nino of 1877 caused 50M deaths - 2026 event could be worse

Water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean rose about 2.7°C during the 1877 El Niño, disrupting global rainfall patterns. Food scarcity and disease outbreaks followed, killing up to four percent of the world’s population at the time, equivalent to at least 250 million people today. Forecasts suggest water temperatures could exceed 3°C above average later this year, potentially making the event more powerful than the one nearly 150 years ago. Drought conditions already developing for years could intensify, collapsing crops across large regions. India could face monsoon failure, Northern China could see harvest-destroying dry spells, and Brazil could experience river drying and agricultural collapse. Parts of Africa, southeast Asia, and Australia could also suffer drought and forest fires, weakening societies and increasing migration.

"Climate reconstructions suggest water temperatures in a key region of the Pacific Ocean rose by 2.7°C (4.86°F), which caused disruption to rainfall patterns around the world. Estimates indicate the resulting scarcity of food and disease outbreaks killed up to four per cent of the Earth's population at the time. That would be the equivalent of at least 250 million people if it happened today."

"Now, forecasts suggest water temperatures could potentially exceed 3°C (5.4°F) above average later this year - making the upcoming super El Niño even more powerful than the one nearly 150 years ago. 'Simultaneous multiyear droughts similar to those in the 1870s could happen again,' Deepti Singh, associate professor at Washington State University, told the Washington Post."

"'What is different now is that our atmosphere and oceans are substantially warmer than they were in the 1870s, which means the associated extremes could be more extreme.' Many climate historians think the 1877-78 event reshaped world history and some consider it one of the first 'truly global climate disasters'."

"Drought conditions, which had already been developing for several years, were intensified - causing crops to collapse across huge areas. India was among the worst-hit regions as monsoon rains disappeared, while Northern China suffered devastating dry spells that led to harvest failures. In Brazil rivers dried up and agriculture collapsed, while parts of Africa, southeast Asia and Australia also experienced severe drought and forest fires."

Read at Mail Online