“We've made it worse” with climate change, said Mark Kane, a professor of earth and environmental sciences at Columbia University.
South America has been particularly hard hit by what Crane calls “the double whammy of El Niño plus global warming.”
Here are five of the ways El Niño has affected the continent.
Fires in Colombia threaten a unique plant
High in the Andes of Colombia there is a plant called frailejón. Growing almost to the height of an adult human, it is known for its crown of fuzzy leaves that draw moisture from the fog. The plant turns fog into water that feeds local watersheds.
But the fragility is at risk as a result of an unprecedented fire season across parts of Colombia's Andes that are typically temperate, cool and wet. The plants grow only at certain altitudes and take decades to mature, raising concerns that wildfires could wipe out species that have withstood years of other disturbances in the country.
Frailejónes are so beloved in Colombia that a popular children's song features them. An Instagram account with more than 100,000 followers is dedicated to the plant; A recent post showed a sad cartoon surrounded by fire, with the caption: “Forest fires are no joke. The lives of many plants, animals and vulnerable creatures are in danger.
Dengue fever rages amid heat waves in Peru
The El Niño phenomenon got its name in Peru, where, the story goes, fishermen noticed the weather pattern at Christmas time. They called this phenomenon “el niño de la navidad.”
The recent El Niño phenomenon has been blamed for fueling a massive wave of dengue cases among people in Peru.
Heavy rains linked to the weather pattern were a boon to the country's mosquito population last year, leading to the largest dengue outbreak in Peru. More than 270,000 cases have been reported, overwhelming hospitals in some areas. There have been at least 381 dengue-related deaths.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a regional update on Friday that higher-than-normal temperatures are now once again creating “environments conducive to dengue transmission.”
Dengue cases in Peru in 2024 will rise by more than 53 percent from last year, OCHA said, citing figures from the Peruvian Ministry of Health. She added that the rise “coincides with the long heat waves caused by the El Niño phenomenon.”
Amazon river dolphins are dying en masse
The carcasses of more than 150 pink river dolphins were found in the unusually warm waters of Lake Tefi in the Amazon region this fall, when some of the most visible effects of El Niño became apparent.
Scientists said the reason was not immediately clear, but it was likely to be caused by extreme heat and drought caused by the El Niño phenomenon and climate change. The water level dropped significantly, and the temperature in the lake reached 102 degrees Fahrenheit.
Warm waters were confusing the dolphins, Claudia Sacramento, head of the environmental emergencies division at the government's Chico Méndez Institute for Biodiversity Conservation, told The Washington Post at the time. The loss of oxygen essentially causes them to suffocate, Sacramento said.
A study by the World Weather Attribution Initiative estimated that climate change is primarily responsible for “exceptional drought” in the Amazon River Basin. The study, released last month, found that El Niño and climate change were equally responsible for rainfall loss, but that “the strong drought trend was almost entirely due to rising global temperatures.”
Fires in Chile are devastating communities
A series of forest fires have killed at least 131 people this month, according to Chilean authorities. President Gabriel Buric declared a state of emergency, and the country entered a period of mourning.
Authorities are investigating suspicions that at least some of the fires were set intentionally. But experts say warm, dry conditions caused by El Niño and climate change have created conditions for fires to spread easily.
The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction said this was “believed to be Chile's deadliest wildfire on record, with the death toll expected to rise.” Hundreds of people are still missing.
Drought, then floods, hit Bolivia
Bolivia “is facing a severe crisis due to a combination of extreme winter heat fueled by the climate crisis and El Niño,” OCHA said in a note in October. Drought and extreme heat have forced authorities to issue heat advisories and warnings to be careful about water use.
Then came the rainy season. But last month's welcome moisture hit barren lands, less equipped to absorb rain, causing floods that killed at least two people and displaced hundreds more, OCHA said.
The World Food Program noted that certain demographic groups in Bolivia, such as indigenous people and women in rural areas, are particularly vulnerable to shocks caused by climate change.
Climate change is pushing El Niño boundaries across thresholds where “social impacts,” such as agriculture and food security, become negative, said Amir Jenna, an assistant professor at the University of Chicago who researches the social and economic impacts of changes in the environment. affected.
“The higher that average goes, the more we start to see things like El Niño have much greater negative impacts on society,” he said.
