The 2026-2027 El Nino climate event will disrupt weather patterns globally, raising safety and logistical risks, threatening food insecurity and escalating security threats. On June 11, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced the development of El Nino, the warm phase of the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the global climate phenomenon stemming from variation in sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean. The announcement came after scientists determined that the waters in the Nino-3.4 region in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean passed the 0.5 C-above-average threshold for consecutive months. New data released by NOAA on June 23 indicated that temperatures in Nino-3.4 reached 29.4 C, 1.7 C above the 30-year average. An El Nino is considered strong when it is at least 1.5 C over average. The high temperature and the fact that it was reached so early in the year suggest that there...
