El Niño's Early Arrival Brings Record Weather Extremes and Planet-Warming Effects.

El Niño, a natural weather event, has begun in the Pacific Ocean, adding heat to a planet already warming under climate change. Experts say it will likely make 2024 the world's hottest year and fear it will help push the world past a key 1.5C warming milestone. It will also affect world weather, potentially bringing drought to Australia, more rain to the southern US, and weakening India's monsoon. The event will likely last until next spring, after which its impacts will recede.