El Niño Threatens Australia: Countries Must Act Now

A warming pattern in the Pacific Ocean, called El Niño, is building and will likely bring extreme heat, dried-out land, and wildfires to the Southern Hemisphere. Countries have only six to twelve weeks to stock up on water, prepare firefighters, and protect farmers through insurance before the worst hits. Scientists can now predict these patterns better than they could decades ago, though predicting exactly where rain will and won't fall remains difficult. Past El Niño events have cost trillions globally.