Environment News

Super El Niño and Positive IOD

August 11 , 2026 15 hrs 0 min 159 0

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) expects a strong Super El Niño to combine with a positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) between August and October 2026.
El Niño is the unusual warming of sea-surface and subsurface waters in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, which weakens or reverses normal trade winds.
It can cause reduced monsoon rainfall in India, higher global temperatures, heat waves, droughts, wildfires and marine heat waves.
The 2026 El Niño was declared by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on June 11, 2026, and has been strengthening rapidly.
Sea-surface temperature anomalies are forecast to exceed 2.9°C, making the event potentially one of the strongest on record.
A positive IOD means warmer-than-normal waters in the western Indian Ocean and cooler waters in the eastern Indian Ocean, which can support rainfall over India and partly offset El Niño’s effect.
The combined impact may increase the risk of extreme heat, droughts, floods and wildfires in different parts of the world.