Prepare for El Niño, UN warns - it could be the strongest in decades
Posted by BigBossBelcha@reddit | collapse | View on Reddit | 49 comments
Posted by BigBossBelcha@reddit | collapse | View on Reddit | 49 comments
GreenHeretic@reddit
RIP India. This is their last year by the looks of it.
weeee_splat@reddit
I read this lengthy BBC article about an area of India called Banda earlier today.
Sounds absolutely fucking hellish. 25C is already too warm for me, almost doubling that is hard to imagine.
Also this quote at the end kind of blew my mind:
The thought of being somewhere that the temperature can drop that far and STILL be almost 40C is insane.
It probably says a lot about human adaptability, but there are limits we are going to hit on a very large scale sooner rather than later...
GreenHeretic@reddit
Holy hell on earth, that is absolutely batshit insane. The article doesn't mention it but I feel like this place would be a prime location for solar power generation. The cost has gone down so much in the last decade, you would think someone would be working on it there - at least for cooling needs anyway.
AdiKadiAdi@reddit
Hey man don't do that
kingfofthepoors@reddit
No, india is done for. 300 million dead in the next decade easily
GreenHeretic@reddit
Consumers:
Projectflintlock@reddit
Just body after body busting out of shit wood and hitting pavement
jonschaff@reddit
My god! This is the first time we’re hearing about it!!
IntoTheCommonestAsh@reddit
It's been interesting and funny seeing this bit of news trickle up the media food chain over the months to finally reach the BBC. They so obviously actively resisted bringing it up for as long as they could get away with. The media will be our downfall.
R1ck_Sanchez@reddit
Sorry for this pedantic comment, I do agree with the sentiment overall but not the final sentence, legit I up voted still.
Media is speeding up the downfall, but i wouldn't consider it the main piece of the puzzle.
I think the downfall is peggable to capitalism and human nature, but that's an opinion, and probably too broad.
Chill_Panda@reddit
Theres about 200 people we could get rid off and solve a big chunk of the problem...
sp0rkify@reddit
Apparently you can't start a utopia with a genocide.. or so I've been told..
I don't agree.. I think it's a great idea.. remove a bunch of assholes from the gene pool, seize all their assets, and use them to try and fix some of the problems those assholes created..
Might be our only hope..
BBR0DR1GUEZ@reddit
Would capitalism have caused the downfall without the discovery of fossil fuels?
Would humanity have entered ecological overshoot if we had never developed artificial fertilizers?
I was going to write that our species is cursed by the same instinctual nature that leads bacterial populations to explode and shortly thereafter collapse within a petri dish. But maybe that's an unnecessarily pessimistic point of view. Maybe rather than cursed, it's better to say we are blessed with the same instinctual nature as our fellow mortal beings on this Earth.
After all, we must imagine Sisyphus to be happy.
IntoTheCommonestAsh@reddit
I agree that there's a real sense in which, aside of all the guilt of humanity and capitalism, we were just damn unlucky with fossil fuels. Amazing source of power straight off the ground, but the catch is it poisons your planet. If it didn't exist, maybe we would have progressed slower in population, technology and industry, and just been fine in the long term. Or maybe we would have torn every tree on earth to feed the steam engines, maybe we were doomed all along. Who knows.
theycamefrom__behind@reddit
In the end the fall of mankind was just the human condition
Chill_Panda@reddit
I honestly believe the great barrier theory. Something would have eventually been our downfall anyway, if not this it would have been something else.
Your petri dish example is a good one! It's similar to the worst extinction event on the planet. There was a little single celled lifeform that became the first to produce oxygen through photosynthesis, which was a game changer. This was such an advantage that they became the top life form on the planet at the time, their population boomed, and they flooded too much oxygen into the atmosphere and killed off nearly all life.... Making way for the oxygen rich planet that sustained all future life.
When a species gets to the top of the food chain, it's population blooms. The bloom signals the start of the end. Something in this bloom will be catestrophic to the species. It literally happens so much in nature.
R1ck_Sanchez@reddit
Ah very true, the list is now capitalism, human nature, and damaging inventions/discoveries
BBR0DR1GUEZ@reddit
Imagine if capitalism is actually a great filter for life in the universe. Maybe there are countless species out there who put up with this shit. I guess if there is space capitalism, there must be a Space Marx, at least one. That's fun to think about. Anyway, I'm satisfied with the 3 causes of doom we've settled on.
R1ck_Sanchez@reddit
I think capitalism can work provided harmonious requirements overrule it where fit, I haven't thought hard about that though.
filmguy36@reddit
That would make one hell of a sci-fi book.👍
filmguy36@reddit
I completely agree with your concept that we’re a bacterial species, but more over, even while we know better, we are unable to stop our instinctual need to expand
BBR0DR1GUEZ@reddit
Yeah that’s the part that makes me stay on the toilet sometimes for a few extra minutes just gathering my strength for the rest of the day.
filmguy36@reddit
Right there with you. 😕
kingfofthepoors@reddit
^ This is an ai comment made to feel more human
ericvulgaris@reddit
Human nature. We've coasted along in a stable climate and the last 200 years have been "Things are getting better and better every year" and that inductively, seductive line of reasoning is ultimately our downfall.
PartyPoison98@reddit
I think some news orgs have been slow to boot, but BBC has been featuring climate stuff for a long while. They've got a dedicated climate reporting team, and as a broadcaster they also have a dedicated weather team.
BadgerKomodo@reddit
Next year’s will be even worse.
curidicious@reddit
next year is the el niño event. I don’t know why people think it’s going to happen immediately this summer. of course it’s going to likely be a record summer but it always is. late 2026-into 2027 is the actual likely el niño year
gemfountain@reddit
I can't get past the earth display, how does one prepare?
kingfofthepoors@reddit
Spend 25 million and build yourself a 3 story underground bunker. Setup retractable solar and wind mills for off grid power. You'll want them to be retractable into the ground to prepare for super storms to keep them safe.
Your full plan
Structure & Excavation (~$8M)
Excavation: 40–60 ft deep, reinforced concrete shell (12–18" walls), waterproofed against groundwater intrusion
3 floors: ~10,000 sq ft total — living quarters, operations center, medical bay, storage
Blast/storm doors: Rated for Category 6+ wind pressure and debris impact
Multiple entry/exit tunnels: At least 3, in different directions, in case one is blocked
Retractable Power Systems (~$4M)
Solar array: Hydraulic scissor-lift platform raises/lowers panels flush with ground — fully retractable in under 10 minutes
Wind turbines: Telescoping mast design that collapses into a ground vault; proven tech used on military forward bases
Trigger system: Automated weather sensors deploy retraction when wind exceeds 80 mph or barometric pressure drops sharply
Backup: Diesel/biodiesel generators + a small molten salt thermal battery bank for multi-week blackouts
Energy Storage (~$2M)
Tesla Megapack-style lithium battery wall — 2–4 weeks of full power without any generation
Gravity battery backup (descending weight system) — no chemistry, near-zero maintenance
Water & Air (~$2M)
Deep well + filtration: UV, reverse osmosis, and ceramic filtration Atmospheric water generation: Pulls moisture from air even in dry climates
HEPA + NBC filtration: Protects against wildfire smoke, biological, and chemical contaminants
Closed-loop greywater recycling
Food (~$3M)
Hydroponic grow floors: LED-lit vertical farms, ~2,000 sq ft, producing calories year-round
5-year dry goods storage: Freeze-dried, vacuum sealed, rotated inventory
Aquaponics: Fish + plants in closed loop — protein + fertilizer simultaneously
Seed vault: Heirloom varieties for eventual surface farming
Comms & Security (~$2M)
Starlink terminal (retractable mast) + shortwave radio backup
Perimeter sensors, thermal cameras, drone surveillance
EMP hardening on all critical electronics (Faraday shielding)
Medical & Infrastructure (~$2M)
Surgical suite, ICU-level equipment, 10-year pharmaceutical stockpile
Dental equipment, lab diagnostics
Mental health spaces — this is often overlooked but critical for long-term habitation
ka_beene@reddit
Billionaires doomsday bunkers.
Fun_Journalist4199@reddit
I remember learning about El Niño and La Niña in elementary school and thinking, “why would I ever care about this?”
Ok-Caterpillar-6089@reddit
Oh no! How should I ‘prepare’?!
m19010101@reddit
Seeing these headlines in major news outlets is sobering, not some random blog. We’ve all seen the wave heading for the shore, and it’s about to hit.
ShyElf@reddit
People here talk about El-Ninos as if they all have the same effects. It's the biggest thing going on, but we can see other SST effects already. To oversimplify, if El Nino takes an area to, say, +2 drought, than +-1 from other effects take it to either +1, normal drought, or +3, catastrophic.
We have it looking like it will be farther east than usual, which helps in Australia. +Kuroshio area helps India, but hurts Northern China. -AMOC helps Brazil, but hurts Sahel and SE Europe/Iran/Turkey/Iran.
Anyhow, I'm going to be more watching for Northern China, the Sahel, and Eastern Europe to have record droughts than Brazil. India would be less likely but higher consequence. Australia is in a higher base El-Nino effect area, with drought more common as it dissipates, but I'd be more worried about next year.
symonym7@reddit
Figures. I finally get an AWD and the nino comes along and kills New England winter.
Anywho, sounds like we're going to need about 60 days of military action on el nino.
JapaneseCDBonusTrack@reddit
Close enough. Welcome back Fernando Torres
Dreadsin@reddit
Sure is a good thing that AI data centers are being put in some of the hottest areas in America! Surely they won’t increase the heat in the area while also using the electricity people need for air conditioning!
arjuna66671@reddit
I'm pro AI but what the US does to its own citizens with this reckless behavior is beyond me. I'm Swiss, so I'm fine - but what I've seen online about AI datacenters in the US - it's fucked up.
GusherBrush@reddit
This disaster (or rather, collection of disasters) is like a car accident you can't look away from
jonnieggg@reddit
Looking forward to a bit of nice weather. Who can afford to go on holidays these days.
BattleGrown@reddit
It's so fun watching the shit - moving in slow motion towards the fan
Plantsandsmut@reddit
I'm swinging between laughing and crying
Fuck all we can do now
StatementBot@reddit
The following submission statement was provided by /u/BigBossBelcha:
The UN has issued a statement regarding the potential effects of El Nino and have warned people to prepare for it. Although expected for a while the fact it has now reached the mainstream is notable in of itself. Considering how slow the UN has been and how slow the mainstream has been to pick up on something that will affect potentially billions is worrying
Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/collapse/comments/1tuq7bj/prepare_for_el_niño_un_warns_it_could_be_the/opb7mn6/
IntoTheCommonestAsh@reddit
This is understating it. It wasn't just "incredibly hot"; it was the hottest year on record at the time.
The last super el nino caused the hottest year on record, and today that year would be the coolest year in decades.
Bad!
TanteJu5@reddit
A super El Niño doesnt just make the whole world uniformly warmer. It fundamentally rewires global atmospheric circulation which leads to severe, prolonged droughts and heightened wildfire risks for regions like Australia, Indonesia, and South America, contrasting with intense, destructive rainfall in places like the southern US.
Besides, disruptions to vital weather systems like a weakened Indian monsoon can trigger widespread crop failures in major food producing basins. As a result, spikes in global food prices, trade disruptions and economic strain.
BigBossBelcha@reddit (OP)
The UN has issued a statement regarding the potential effects of El Nino and have warned people to prepare for it. Although expected for a while the fact it has now reached the mainstream is notable in of itself
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