China Warns of Potential Strongest El Nino Ever

China’s National Climate Centre has forecast the potential development of a super El Nino that could become the strongest ever recorded. The centre predicts that sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific will rise steadily, peaking around November and December.

Since the beginning of summer, China has already experienced effects associated with El Nino, including torrential rainfall across several regions. The overlapping of multiple rain belts has exacerbated disaster impacts.

Typhoons have also been unusually strong, with Typhoon Dolphin, the strongest typhoon of the year, causing extreme rainfall in eastern, central, and northern China. The storm traveled across the Pacific for two weeks before making landfall, affecting areas far from the coast.

In July, natural disasters resulted in 318 people dead or missing and caused approximately $8.5 billion in direct economic losses.