{"id":53084,"date":"2026-07-31T21:49:37","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T21:49:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/?p=53084"},"modified":"2026-07-31T21:49:40","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T21:49:40","slug":"indias-monsoon-rains-in-danger-as-un-chief-warns-planet-is-on-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/2026\/07\/31\/indias-monsoon-rains-in-danger-as-un-chief-warns-planet-is-on-fire\/","title":{"rendered":"India\u2019s monsoon rains in danger as UN chief warns planet is \u2018on fire\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

India\u2019s monsoon is in danger and hotter, drier conditions are forecast across much of the world as a stronger El Ni\u00f1o weather system is taking hold, weather experts have warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ant\u00f3nio Guterres, the UN secretary general, said the strengthening El Ni\u00f1o was \u201cadding fuel to a planet already on fire\u201d and pushing the world into \u201cuncharted territory\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The El Ni\u00f1o system will strengthen from August to October, which will bring higher temperatures globally, with increasing rainfall in some regions while others suffer drought, according to data and forecasts released by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marine heatwaves have already shocked scientists this year and are set to intensify: the WMO said temperatures were likely to exceed 2.9C above normal in several regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Pacific waters driving it have never been this warm this early in an El Ni\u00f1o, and temperatures are still increasing,\u201d Guterres said. \u201c[This year] risks shattering every seasonal record, and driving even more severe effects worldwide. We are in uncharted territory.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The risk of a weakened monsoon, which brings the rain on which Indian farmers rely, was highlighted as the forecast gave an \u201cenhancement in the probability for below-normal rainfall\u201d, which would produce increased drought, floods and wildfire risk around the Indian Ocean basin. Drier conditions are also likely across parts of equatorial Africa to the west of the Horn of Africa, across the south and east of Australia, large parts of South America and in North America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Higher than normal rainfall is expected in southern Europe, central Asia and the Horn of Africa and south-eastern South America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Extreme weather has already caused havoc around the world this summer, with record-breaking heatwaves beginning in May in the UK, and wildfires across France and Spain that have destroyed villages and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a>
A destroyed house after wildfires in the village of Le Porge, Gironde, France. Photograph: Catalina Martin-Chico\/The Guardian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Scientists have warned this year of the development of an El Ni\u00f1o, a weather system in the Pacific that frequently affects temperatures and rainfall around the world. Some El Ni\u00f1o years in the past have been relatively mild, but scientists have said that this year\u2019s has been supercharged by the climate crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warmer waters \u2013 earlier in the year than usual and with water temperatures still increasing \u2013 have led to predictions of a \u201csuper El Ni\u00f1o\u201d forming. The WMO does not use this term, but has said that the weather system developing is likely to be significantly stronger and more intense than usual. Friday\u2019s forecasts were the organisation\u2019s latest update, covering August to October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Celeste Saulo, the secretary general of the WMO, called on governments to make preparations to help people affected by the heat, drought and potential floods that are likely in the months ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEl Ni\u00f1o is one of the most closely monitored climate phenomena in the world,\u201d she said. \u201cBut forecasts in themselves do not prevent hazards, people do. This El Ni\u00f1o, developing against the backdrop of unprecedented ocean heat and rising temperatures, provides governments and communities with a window of opportunity to anticipate risks and act before impacts unfold. The decisions we make today will shape the impacts we experience tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guterres warned of the impacts on Friday and called for governments to take action on fossil fuels. \u201cTwo months ago, I warned that El Ni\u00f1o was arriving on our doorstep. Now it is inside the house, and turning up the heat,\u201d he told reporters in New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added:\u201cEl Ni\u00f1o is strengthening \u2013 adding fuel to a planet already on fire with scorching heat domes, apocalyptic wildfires and record hot seas. Fossil fuels are fanning the flames of this crisis. Expansion must stop.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guterres warned particularly of the risks to workers: \u201cHeat is claiming lives on a growing scale, day after day, in every region of the world. It is also putting an enormous share of the global workforce at risk, exposing billions of people to dangers and often life-threatening conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Separately, studies have shown that the extreme weather Europe is experiencing and the increasing likelihood of drought and wildfires have been \u201csupercharged\u201d by the climate crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

India\u2019s monsoon is in danger and hotter, drier conditions are forecast across much of the world as a stronger El Ni\u00f1o weather system is taking hold, weather experts have warned. Ant\u00f3nio Guterres, the UN secretary general, said the strengthening El Ni\u00f1o was \u201cadding fuel to a planet already on fire\u201d and pushing the world into […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":53085,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_post_source_name":"","_post_source_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[1648,6349,5274,3347,8440,7396,5846,6462,4066,6621,12565,6159,5184,5575,6569,6665,6345,12429,6685,6464,5440,8342,1362,990,9237,7964,11973,10716,7887,7398,5807,9162,4293,7333,12605,5465,8869,9085,6408,3954,36,6974],"class_list":["post-53084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news","tag-africa","tag-antonio-guterres","tag-asia","tag-australia","tag-crisis","tag-data","tag-displaced","tag-drought","tag-el","tag-europe","tag-farmers","tag-fire","tag-flames","tag-france","tag-fuel","tag-fuels","tag-guterres","tag-havoc","tag-heatwaves","tag-horn-of-africa","tag-india","tag-indian","tag-indian-ocean","tag-new-york","tag-nio","tag-north","tag-one","tag-rain","tag-rainfall","tag-rains","tag-risk","tag-scientists","tag-spain","tag-summer","tag-uk","tag-un","tag-water","tag-weather","tag-wildfire","tag-will","tag-world","tag-worldwide"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53084"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53084\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53086,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53084\/revisions\/53086"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}