El Niño may peak at the worst time for the Amazon – and it should worry us all

Delay to rainy season in forest already damaged by human-driven heating could trigger powerful ‘Godzilla’ El Niño

As a supercharged climate scorches https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/30/fire-weather-eu-wildfires-data">Europe with wildfire and deluges https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jul/28/extreme-rainfall-asia-flash-floods-typhoons-climate-change">Asia with floods, the Amazon is bracing for a drought that strikes fear into the hearts of forest defenders and food producers alike.

But it should worry even more of us.

Scientists are https://dashboard.theclimatebrink.com/#enso">predicting that the peak of El Niño will occur at the worst possible time for the world’s biggest tropical rainforest: the end of the dry season between October and December, when rivers are at their lowest and undergrowth is most likely to be tinder dry.

This will be a period of extreme vulnerability for the forest, which plays a globally important role in stabilising the climate and irrigating crops.