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A strong El Niño is intensifying extreme weather around the world. As droughts, wildfires and destructive storms affect millions of people, governments are trying to respond to the crisis.
Rivers have dried up, crops have been destroyed and families are struggling to find food and water. Severe drought in Papua New Guinea has affected up to 8 million people, causing food shortages, power cuts and the closure of schools and clinics, The Guardian reported.
El Niño develops when surface waters in the central and eastern tropical Pacific become warmer than average. The process disrupts atmospheric circulation and changes rainfall and storm patterns in different parts of the world: some regions become hotter and drier, while others experience heavy rain and storms.
Forecasts suggest the current El Niño could be the strongest on record, while global warming is amplifying its effects. Indonesia’s meteorology agency has warned that strong El Niño conditions could persist until the first quarter of 2027.
Water and electricity shortages in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea is usually one of the world’s wettest places, with air currents from warm tropical waters bringing abundant rainfall to the region. But this year, those waters shifted east, and some areas have received less than a quarter of their usual rainfall since August.
Kasis Inape of the country’s national meteorology agency told The Guardian that most people are farmers whose livelihoods depend entirely on rainfall. He said the country was experiencing a “rainfall deficit.”
The agency announced the onset of El Niño in June, but Inape said drought had already gripped much of the country by then.
In Morobe province on Papua New Guinea’s northeast coast, small rivers have dried up. Water shortages have forced some schools and health centers to operate for only half a day, while clinics are no longer admitting patients overnight.
The crisis has also reached the capital, Port Moresby. Falling water levels in dams have reduced hydropower production. The state electricity company has introduced scheduled power cuts that could last up to 10 months.
A coalition of churches, trade unions and business groups has described the situation as a “national crisis” and said there was no visible coordinated effort to protect vulnerable communities.
Prime Minister James Marape has urged provincial and district leaders to prepare for a prolonged drought. The government is also examining funding options for disaster relief.
Indonesia faces its largest fires in more than a decade
About 900,000 hectares — or 9,000 square kilometers — have burned in Indonesia since January. The fires are the largest recorded in the country in more than a decade.
The Nusantara Atlas satellite monitoring platform recorded 895,657 hectares burned by August. The Forestry Ministry, meanwhile, said fires affected more than 202,000 hectares between January and July.
Authorities have deployed more than 50 aircraft to conduct cloud-seeding operations to encourage rain and water-bombing flights to fight fires.
Indonesia carried out 252 cloud-seeding operations between 2021 and August 2026. The method is rarely used to fight wildfires elsewhere in the world.
A senior minister said cloud seeding depends on the availability of rain clouds. Such clouds become increasingly scarce during prolonged drought.
Smoke and haze from the fires have spread beyond Indonesia to Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines. Timor-Leste has announced that schools nationwide will close for three days.
India’s monsoon rainfall at its lowest in more than a decade
Rainfall during India’s monsoon season has fallen to its weakest level in more than a decade, raising concerns about crop production, food prices and the livelihoods of millions of farmers.
India’s Meteorological Department said the 2026 monsoon season ended with rainfall 12.6% below average. It was the fourth-weakest reading recorded since 2001.
The shortfall was more pronounced in the east and northeast of the country, where rainfall was 25.6% below average. The southern peninsula recorded a decline of about 24.4%.
Low rainfall has heightened concerns about falling crop yields, depleted reservoirs, rising food inflation and pressure on rural incomes.
About 52% of the land cultivated in India is not irrigated and depends on rainfall. As a result, millions of farmers are exposed to fluctuations in seasonal rains.
Pacific storms intensify as Atlantic hurricane activity weakens
While El Niño has brought severe drought to parts of Asia, warming Pacific waters have helped create an exceptionally active hurricane season in the eastern Pacific.
By the end of September, the region had recorded 19 tropical depressions or storms. Eight developed into hurricanes, including five major hurricanes.
The opposite effect has been seen in the Atlantic Ocean. El Niño has weakened hurricane activity, and the season’s first hurricane formed later than at any time since satellite observations began.
Pressure on governments mounts
As extreme weather disrupts communities in different regions, governments face the challenge of managing the current damage while preparing for new droughts, fires and destructive storms.
With millions of people already affected, pressure is mounting on governments to protect food stocks, water resources and essential services.
