The Latest Breaking News from El Niño

Rising food prices are causing more and more people to go hungry in sub-Saharan Africa. My new research shows that an overlooked cause could be El Niño, a climate phenomenon in the Pacific that affects weather patterns globally.

Southern Africa’s worst drought in years has destroyed crops of the staple food, maize, across the region. Malawi, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho and Namibia have all been affected by the drought. Crop failures in South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe – the largest maize producers in southern Africa –…

In the past few years in Australia, seasonal rainfall and temperatures have left a lot of people confused. Sometimes, the hot, dry conditions usually associated with an El Niño have not eventuated. Similarly, there have been years where a La Niña did not lead to the cool, wet conditions expected.

A new simulation shows that an El Niño-like climate pattern begins near New Zealand and Australia, and can trigger temperature changes across the Southern Hemisphere.

"This very arid soil houses a treasure," ecologist María Fernanda Pérez told Live Science after the Atacama Desert produced a rare winter bloom.

Scientists used thousands of years of climate data to show that El Niño Southern Oscillations can be predicted more than two years in advance.

In a warmer world, every El Niño could look like today's most extreme events.

Scientists used thousands of years of past climate data to show that El Niño Southern Oscillations can be predicted more than two years in advance.

Unprecedented sea surface temperatures have driven the powerful storm to form early in the year, sowing catastrophe across the Caribbean.