Record-breaking El Niño could bring drought and fires

El Niño is a big deal.

It's Friday, July 31, 2026, at 5:55 am.

It's Friday, July 31, 2026, at 11:45 am.

El Niño is getting stronger very fast and might break all records.

El Niño is getting stronger across the Pacific Ocean and could break all records.

The Pacific Ocean is getting warmer, which is making the Earth's atmosphere hotter and causing heatwaves and fires.

El Niño will keep getting stronger and will affect the weather in many places, including Australia, and might cause a very hot spring and more drought and fires.

The Pacific Ocean is getting very warm.

El Niño is when the water in the eastern and central Pacific Ocean is warmer than usual, and this can last for up to a year.

There have been 27 El Niño years since 1900, and this year's El Niño is looking like it will be very strong.

El Niños are measured by the Niño 3.4 index, which looks at the water temperature in a certain area.

A warm patch of water in the Pacific is affecting the weather all around the world.

The Niño 3.4 index has gone up very quickly, which is a sign of a strong El Niño.

The El Niño is still getting stronger and might keep getting stronger until November.

The strongest El Niño on record might happen this year, which could cause big problems.

Australia is going to have a very hot spring and summer.

Why does a warm patch of water in the Pacific matter?

Climatologists and meteorologists care about El Niño because it can cause big changes in the weather.

Australia is very close to the Pacific, so El Niño affects us a lot.

In the past, El Niño has caused some of our hottest and driest years.

El Niño's impact on Australia will be felt soon, even though it might not peak for a few months.

The Southern Oscillation Index is a way to measure how strong El Niño is, and it's very low right now.

The low Southern Oscillation Index means that there is high pressure over Australia and low pressure over the Pacific.

This means that the winds that usually bring rain to Australia are not working, and it's been very dry lately.

It's unlikely that there will be much rain in the next few months, and the weather forecast says that it will be very dry.

The next three months will probably be very dry in Australia.

Another thing that might stop rain from coming to Australia is the Indian Ocean Dipole.

While it's unlikely that there will be much rain, it's almost certain that it will be very hot.

The temperature in Australia might be 2 degrees higher than usual this spring.

This could make it the hottest spring on record in Australia.

The weather forecast says that it will be very hot in the southern half of the country.

The temperature might stay high for a long time, even into next year.

High temperatures and low rainfall are a big concern because they can cause bushfires.

One good thing is that Australia is not in a severe drought right now, so the bushfires might not be as bad as they could be.

El Niño affects the weather all around the world.

El Niño can cause big changes in the weather in many places, including Africa and Europe.

The Pacific Ocean is getting warmer, which is making the whole world warmer.

Because of climate change, strong El Niño events can cause record-high temperatures.

The world's hottest year, 2024, happened during an El Niño event, and this year's El Niño might cause even higher temperatures.

More news from NSW.

Topic: Courts.

Topic: Corruption.

Topic: Mental Health.

See more ABC news.

Hörübung

Hörübung