Super El Nino exposes global unpreparedness for climate extremes: expert

The current "super El Nino" highlights how global warming magnifies the destructive impact of storms worldwide, Columbia climate expert Lisa Sachs said in an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) aired on Saturday.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday that El Nino is set to intensify into a very strong event in the coming months, bringing heightened risks of floods, drought and extreme heat. And the likelihood that it will persist through to February 2027 is "nearly 100 percent," it said.

El Nino, a Pacific climate phenomenon marked by unusually warm sea surface temperatures, disrupts global weather patterns and often unleashes floods, droughts, and severe storms.

Sachs, director of the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment and associate professor at Columbia Climate School, said a bigger picture of climate extremes on a warming planet may be overlooked if people only focus on the El Nino itself.

"I think the most important thing to understand is that there is no question that this El Nino is a super El Nino. But I think if we spend time focusing on the cause of the El Nino and the severity of the El Nino itself, which is a particular natural phenomenon in the Pacific, then we lose sight of what the consequences are of any storm that rises in this warmed planet and the severity of the consequences," Sachs said.

Sachs also noted that many countries lack the resources to fully prepare for the serious consequences of climate extremes, pointing to rising prices in Nepal as an example. She said governments remain routinely unprepared for climate extremes.

"One is that we are just simply not prepared, and a lot of countries continue to be focused on all the wrong things and spending their resources and their time on all the wrong things, on making war rather than making peace and preparing for the ways in which we could improve the lives of all citizens. So that is just one basic point is that it's the wrong focus for many governments," she said.

"But another really important point is that we can't prepare in all the ways that we need to for these serious consequences. Look at the prices in Nepal. There's only so much that can be done when we're preparing for the landslides and massive flooding. So some of it is just simply not having the resources and some of it is the wrong attention to global challenges," Sachs added.

Super El Nino exposes global unpreparedness for climate extremes: expert

International media on Saturday and Sunday visited the core disaster area of mudslide-hit Gyirong Port on the China-Nepal border in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region.

The reporters from the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Brazil among other countries and regions visited the area and learned about the disaster situation, ongoing rescue operations, and progress in recovery and reconstruction.

"China has this particular the capacity to address this kind of crisis. You have thousands of workers trained for this and you have machines made for this kind of efforts. And of course, our heart goes to them for the kind of work they are putting," said KJM Varma Mokanda, a reporter from Press Trust of India.

The mudslide, triggered by a high-altitude glacier collapse in Nepal on Aug 26, had left 43 people dead and 519 others missing at the border port as of 18:00 Saturday, the emergency response and rescue headquarters told a press conference on Sunday.

As of 18:00 Saturday, more than 2,500 people and over 500 vehicles had been deployed for the rescue, and more than 1,000 flights of drones had air-dropped 5.43 tons of supplies, officials said at the press conference.

International media visit mudslide-hit Gyirong Port