{"id":653555,"date":"2026-10-22T07:14:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T07:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/653555\/"},"modified":"2026-10-22T07:14:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T07:14:10","slug":"un-agencies-appeal-for-help-to-protect-weakest-from-unprecedented-el-nino","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/653555\/","title":{"rendered":"UN agencies appeal for help to protect weakest from unprecedented El Ni\u00f1o"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe current El Ni\u00f1o event could be unprecedented in strength \u2013 literally, off the monitoring charts\u00a0that we have used for the past four decades \u2013 and will peak towards the end of 2026, but its impacts will be felt long after that,\u201d said Celeste Saulo, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO<\/a>).<\/p>\n

According to the latest\u00a0Global Seasonal Climate Update<\/a> from WMO, sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific \u2013 the epicentre of the extreme El Ni\u00f1o weather phenomenon \u2013 may rise to 3.8\u2103 above average between November 2026 and January 2027.<\/p>\n

While a Pacific Ocean surface temperature anomaly of 0.5\u2103 above normal is enough to trigger an El Ni\u00f1o alert by WMO, Ms. Saulo highlighted concerns that the impact of an El Ni\u00f1o fuelled by a 3.8\u2103 gap has no precedent.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Simply unprecedented<\/p>\n

Previous El Ni\u00f1os linked to anomalies of 3\u2103 have brought \u201cvery substantive impacts across the world\u201d, but \u201cwe are beyond that limit, out of our records, out of our statistics of what we can expect\u201d, the agency chief stressed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are already witnessing extreme weather events and expect this to multiply and cascade as El Ni\u00f1o intensifies,\u201d Ms. Saulo noted.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBut a powerful El Ni\u00f1o does not have to be a recipe for humanitarian disaster.\u00a0 We have the science forecasts, the early warnings to save lives and protect livelihoods.\u201d<\/p>\n

Echoing Ms. Saulo\u2019s appeal for prevention efforts to boost resilience among the world\u2019s most vulnerable communities, the UN\u2019s emergency relief chief, Tom Fletcher, described the new El Ni\u00f1o as a \u201cbehemoth\u2026a wrecking ball that will likely tear through Latin America, eastern and southern Africa, Asia and the Pacific with extreme heat, droughts and floods\u201d.<\/p>\n

Funding to avert disaster<\/p>\n

The next two weeks will be critical to averting a worsening humanitarian crisis linked to El Ni\u00f1o, Mr. Fletcher said, adding that Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya urgently need funding and emergency supplies in place before heavy rains arrive.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In southern Africa, the priority is to deliver seeds and safeguard livestock, while Central America requires immediate support to protect livelihoods.<\/p>\n

Across Asia and the Pacific, countries must brace for a range of climate shocks, including droughts, floods and cyclones.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be an extraordinary failure to see this crisis coming, to hear the predictions from the experts, and yet still squander the opportunity to protect people in its path,\u201d Mr. Fletcher warned.<\/p>\n

Some 50 million people could face increased hunger because of the weather phenomenon, he stressed, before citing an African Development Bank estimate that it will cost African countries between $10 and $20 billion \u201cand drive down GDP by between one and two per cent\u201d.<\/p>\n

UN cash injection<\/p>\n

To support resilience efforts, the UN\u2019s top aid official announced that he has released more than $50 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund<\/a> to help 11 countries on the front line, including Chad, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Somalia and South Sudan.<\/p>\n

The long-term impact \u201cwill be felt for months and potentially years to come\u201d, Mr. Fletcher continued, citing the additional strains placed on the humanitarian system by the global supply chain crunch in the Strait of Hormuz and the Black Sea, respectively linked to war between Iran and the United States and the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n

With a potentially devastating El Ni\u00f1o approaching, UN agencies are helping countries build disaster risk reduction into shelter and preparedness from the start, rather than reacting after disaster strikes. Here are some examples:<\/p>\n

\u00a9 UNDP
\n Flood control barriers are an adaptation measure designed to manage alluvial flows in Antofagasta, in northern Chile.<\/p>\n

Chile: Shifting rainfall patterns have brought deadly floods to several regions. In northern Antofagasta, the UN Development Programme (UNDP<\/a>) helped build massive barriers to hold back torrents of mud and debris.<\/p>\n

Madagascar: Facing recurring cyclones, the national shelter cluster is developing a strategy that includes a five-year humanitarian action plan, with pilot projects running since early 2025 in the Atsimo Andrefana and Androy regions.<\/p>\n

Nigeria: Despite aid cuts, the UN Disaster Risk Reduction office (UNDRR<\/a>) and the Global Shelter Cluster brought government, humanitarian and environmental partners together in June 2025 to start work on a roadmap for safer shelter in areas hit by conflict and climate shocks.<\/p>\n

Yemen: More than four million people are displaced, many of them on land prone to flooding, and flash floods hit over 100,000 households in 2024 alone. The UN refugee agency (UNHCR<\/a>), UNDRR and partners have backed community-led defences, including a 2.5km flood diversion channel in the Al-Hazm district.<\/p>\n

Check out a map of ongoing efforts around the world\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThe current El Ni\u00f1o event could be unprecedented in strength \u2013 literally, off the monitoring charts\u00a0that we have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":653556,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[242,85,46,141],"class_list":["post-653555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=653555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653555\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/653556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=653555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=653555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=653555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}