Well before it was understood, the El Niño phenomenon was leaving its marks on humanity.
El Niño is the name given to powerful shifts in Pacific Ocean winds and water temperatures that can drastically transform global weather patterns. Over the centuries these natural patterns have sparked epic droughts and heat waves, and have intensified epidemics. Some academics even claim to see the fingerprints of El Niño on political and economic crises in ancient Egypt, or on the downfall of the Moche civilization in present-day Peru, more than 1,000 years ago. And in 1877 and 1878, a famine fueled by El Niño killed millions of people across the tropics, hardening inequities that, as one research paper put it <https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/clim/31/23/jcli-d-18-0159.1.xml>, “would later be characterized as the ‘first world’ and ‘third world.’” Right now, the world is entering a new El Niño phase. Researchers are warning it could be one of the strongest on record and are invoking this history <https://www.severe-weather.eu/long-range-2/super-el-nino-2026-record-breaking-intensity-forecast-weather-impacts-united-states-canada-europe-fa/> as an admonition that natural forces, when they reach their highest magnitude, can lead to profound volatility and hardship. *https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/21/climate/el-nino-history-famine.html <https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/21/climate/el-nino-history-famine.html>* -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#41801): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/41801 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/119439707/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/13617172/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
