This year's exceptionally strong El Niño, amplified by climate change, is driving extreme weather around the globe. It adds a 'terrifying' level of risk to coral reefs, where UN nature panel chair David Obura says reef-building species have sharply deteriorated since the 2008 census, with 44% now threatened with extinction. In El Salvador, August temperatures were 4.3°C above normal and livestock are suffering from the drought, while in Argentina the Iguazu River flowed at six times its normal rate, forcing tourist trails to close and prompting evacuations near the Paraná River. UN development chief Alexander De Croo warns that El Niño, combined with high energy costs and interest rates, could push millions into poverty, and severe drought is affecting more than half of Sudan. Whether it sets a record depends on how it is measured: Britain's Met Office calls it 'unprecedented', while US forecasters have not declared one yet, though NOAA expects it to surpass the strongest event in its dataset, from 1982.
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