El Niño Threatens Global Disaster as Experts Warn of Political Interference

The strongest El Niño in recorded history is approaching, and scientists warn that political interference is undermining the world’s ability to prepare. In 1877, a massive El Niño caused one of the worst environmental disasters ever seen. The event, known as the “year without a winter,” led to severe drought across much of the world. Harvests failed in India, China, parts of Africa, and Brazil. Combined with poor colonial policies, the drought triggered the “Great Famine,” killing between 30 and 60 million people. That was about 3% of the global population at the time. Today, we have tools to avoid such a catastrophe. Modern ocean monitoring and forecasting systems give us advance warnings that the Victorians lacked. These systems save thousands of lives and billions of dollars each year. But those systems are now at risk. The administration has interrupted data streams that are key to forecasting. According to Terry Garcia, former deputy administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), these systems “should not be vulnerable to political whims.” Garcia warns that without reliable data, the world could face a repeat of history. The difference between the victims of 1877 and us, he says, is not luck—it is data. And that data is now in danger.