Entering uncharted waters: El Niño and the threat to food security
This media briefing features information about the characteristics of El Niño, its effects and impacts on food security around the world. According to the briefing, millions of poor people in Southern Africa, Asia and Central America face hunger and poverty this year and next because of droughts and erratic rains as global temperatures reach new records, and because of the onset of a powerful El Niño – the climate phenomenon that develops in the tropical Pacific and brings extreme weather to several regions of the world. The combination of record warmth one year followed by an El Niño the next is unique and the climatic implications are uncertain. The report notes that governments and agencies must scale up emergency preparedness measures to prevent what are still manageable food crises developing into major humanitarian disasters.
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