"“confidence is clearly shifting higher on potentially the biggest El Niño event since the 1870s.” With red warning lights already blinking across the dashboard, the coming warming period will test our global systems of governance as much as our meteorological instruments."
"“chances are looking strong that the coming El Niño could be one of the most powerful in recorded history, with a potential to surpass records set in 1877.” For the third consecutive month, multiple climate models have predicted a monster El Niño, which could bring record breaking temperatures, as well as droughts, humidity, and floods."
"“During the freak El Niño of 1877, as New York Times opinion columnist David Wallace-Wells observes, the ensuing floods and droughts and heat didn't simply present themselves as weather events. They had real, lasting social consequences that flailing feudal systems - antagonized by European colonial powers - were ill-equipped to address.”"
"“Famines took tens of millions of lives across countries like India, China, Egypt, and Brazil, followed closely by raging epidemics, cataclysmic horrors which disproportionately impacted the world's poorest populations.”"
Cities face water shortages, heat waves can be deadly, and climate refugees are increasing. A high likelihood of El Niño developing by June raises expectations of unusually warm ocean waters and prolonged warming. Multiple climate models predict a very strong El Niño that could surpass records from 1877. The event could bring record-breaking temperatures along with droughts, humidity, and floods. Governance systems may be tested as climate impacts create lasting social consequences. During the 1877 El Niño, floods, droughts, and heat contributed to widespread famine and subsequent epidemics, disproportionately affecting the poorest populations. Political systems may struggle to respond effectively under these stresses.
Read at Futurism
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