Geneva:El Nino is intensifying rapidly and is projected to cause global health impacts, particularly affecting countries with weak health systems and those experiencing humanitarian crises, as warned by UN agencies on Tuesday.

According to Azerbaijan State News Agency, Armel Castellan, an extreme heat adviser at the joint WHO-WMO climate and health program, informed reporters in Geneva about the record-breaking temperatures experienced recently. He noted that sea surface temperatures are also at unprecedented levels.

Castellan indicated that El Nino is expected to peak toward the end of 2026, but its effects will persist beyond this period. As El Nino reaches its peak, regions in the Southern Hemisphere, including southern Africa, South America, and Australia, will enter their hottest season in early 2027, potentially heightening the risks of drought, wildfires, smoke, and air pollution.

Teresa Zakaria, WHO's unit head for risk reduction, humanitarian operations, and climate change, highlighted that El Nino poses a significant public health threat, not merely a climate phenomenon. She emphasized that malnutrition and cholera pose "very high" risks in both drought- and flood-affected areas.

Globally, more than 150 million people are already experiencing acute food insecurity, and this number is expected to rise as climate shocks disrupt food production and livelihoods. Zakaria also noted that warmer temperatures and shifting rainfall patterns could increase the transmission of mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever, and Zika, potentially spreading them to new areas.

Zakaria stressed the importance of taking action now to prevent these risks from escalating into crises.