An exceptionally strong El Niño is worsening fires, haze, and heat across parts of Asia, while governments brace for power shortages, drought, and pressure on water supplies.
Agence France-Presse reported that El Niño is already affecting several parts of Asia, with prolonged dry conditions fueling fires across forests and plantations in Indonesia’s Borneo and South Sumatra regions and sending haze into neighboring countries.
Malaysia closed schools in several regions last week because of the haze and offered firefighting assistance to Indonesia. Singapore announced subsidies for people seeking medical treatment for haze-linked illnesses.
Experts said years of deforestation and peatland drainage have made Indonesia more vulnerable to fires during dry periods.
Tens of thousands of people have fallen ill, while conservationists have rescued dozens of orangutans trapped by smoke and flames.
Among them was Novita, a female orangutan found clinging to a treetop with burns on her hands and feet.
“She had to leave her habitat, and we had to rescue her, primarily because of the flames,” said Andi Muhammad Khadafi, head of the Central Kalimantan Natural Resources Conservation Agency.
Authorities and conservation group YIARI rescued 46 orangutans from fires between August and Oct. 9.
El Niño is also straining power systems in the region.
Myanmar warned residents to expect electricity outages as an unseasonal heat wave pushed up demand.
“Due to the effects of severe El Nino conditions, temperatures across the country have risen significantly, resulting in increased electricity consumption,” the energy ministry said.
Weather officials also warned of abnormal rainfall, drought, extreme heat and drinking water shortages.
In the Philippines, Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said the government was preparing for higher electricity demand and possible declines in hydropower generation because of hotter and drier weather.
“The appeal is for the public to be aware of this so that we can all start having the mindset of energy savings,” she said.
Concerns are also growing over food security and poverty as the weather phenomenon intensifies.
International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva told AFP she was “very concerned” about El Niño’s global impacts, particularly on food security.
She said the IMF was “getting ready” to offer support to countries that may struggle to absorb the impact.
The United Nations Development Programme warned that higher borrowing costs, surging energy prices and the powerful El Niño had created “a perfect storm that could throw tens if not hundreds of millions of people back into poverty.”
The World Meteorological Organization said El Niño would continue intensifying until a December peak.
“It is likely to bring above-average temperatures to much of the globe and shift rainfall patterns, increasing the risk of drought and floods in different regions,” the body said.
Sea-surface temperatures in a key monitoring region in the Pacific reached an “all-time high” last month, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
Japan’s weather agency on Friday declared the current El Niño to be of “the strongest intensity on record.”
Not all forecasters use the same scale to interpret El Niño, while comparisons with earlier events are complicated by the background effects of climate change.
