A very strong El Niño is approaching. Here's what we can expect

Phys · Jun 03, 2026 · 1013 words · By Javier Martín Vide

Environmental Impact Climate Science Meteorological forecasting

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What to know about Environmental Impact

The article explains the science behind the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), detailing its oceanic and atmospheric components and historical impacts. It describes the transition from a neutral phase to a predicted intense El Niño and outlines the potential global weather consequences.

Propaganda risk 10%

Claims checked 18

Techniques found 1

Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left12%

Center76%

Right12%

8 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Here's what we can expect Robert Egan Associate Editor El Niño is a recurring climate event with impacts across the globe.

Why it matters

It has three phases: one cold (known as La Niña), one neutral, and one warm (El Niño).

Common ground

In 2026, spring in the northern hemisphere took place in a neutral phase, which followed a relatively mild La Niña.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this Environmental Impact story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that It also caused a very mild winter in the mid-latitudes of Europe, Asia and North America?
How does this story connect Environmental Impact with Climate Science over the next few days?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-06-strong-el-nio-approaching.html

analyticsAnalysis

10%

Propaganda Score

confidence: 95%

Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 1 propaganda technique in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning

Loaded Language 70% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 18 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 8

verified Verified By Reference 3

help Insufficient Evidence 2

check_circle Corroborated 2

info Single Source 2

verified Verified 1

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Claim 1: “It also caused a very mild winter in the mid-latitudes of Europe, Asia and North America.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

verified

Claim 2: “It occurred when warm waters from the equatorial Pacific replaced the usual cold waters off the coasts of Ecuador (south of the city of Guayaquil), Peru and northern Chile.”

VERIFIED

Web search results explicitly state that El Niño occurs when warm waters from the equatorial Pacific replace the usual cold waters off the coasts of Ecuador (south of Guayaquil), Peru, and northern Chile.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 1982–1983 El Niño event was one of the strongest El Niño events since records were kept. It led to droughts in Indonesia and Australia, widespread flooding across the southern United States, lack …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982–83_El_Niño_event

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a global climate phenomenon that emerges from variation in winds and sea surface temperatures over the tropical Pacific Ocean. Those variations have an irregular…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Niño–Southern_Oscillation

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Peru is a country on the central western coast of South America facing the Pacific Ocean. It lies wholly in the Southern Hemisphere, its northernmost extreme reaching to 1.8 minutes of latitude or abo…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Peru

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 3: “In 1982–83, the most intense El Niño of the 20th century caused extreme weather events throughout the world, including floods in the American Pacific and in the southern United States, and droughts in northeastern Brazil and Indonesia.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 4: “In 1957-1958, a very intense El Niño caused torrential rainfall in Peru and other countries, and a severe drought in India and Southeast Asia”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 5: “In the 1920s, British physicist and climatologist Gilbert Walker... realized that when pressure increased in the South American Pacific, it decreased in northern Australia and Indonesia, and vice versa.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was provided in the search results regarding Gilbert Walker's specific observations in the 1920s.

verified

Claim 6: “El Niño is a recurring climate event with impacts across the globe. It has three phases: one cold (known as La Niña), one neutral, and one warm (El Niño).”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia explicitly defines the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) as a global climate phenomenon involving variations in sea surface temperatures and winds, which consists of the three phases mentioned.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Effects of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation in Australia are present across most of Australia, particularly the north and the east, and are one of the main climate drivers of the country. Associated w…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_the_El_Niño–Souther…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Super El Niño events, also called very strong El Niño events, are climatic phenomena resulting from the average sea surface temperatures in parts of the Pacific Ocean rising by 2° Celsius or more, aff…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_El_Niño_events

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 7: “Combining the names of the oceanic and atmospheric components gave rise to the El Niño's official name: El Niño-Southern Oscillation (often abbreviated to ENSO).”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 8: “In 2026, spring in the northern hemisphere took place in a neutral phase, which followed a relatively mild La Niña.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple real-time sources (NOAA Climate Prediction Center and a web search result) confirm that a transition from La Niña to ENSO-neutral was expected in February-April 2026, with neutral conditions persisting through the spring of the Northern Hemisphere.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This article documents notable events, research findings, scientific and technological advances, and human actions to measure, predict, mitigate, and adapt to the effects of global warming and climate…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_in_climate_change

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The following is a list of weather events that occurred on Earth in the year 2026.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather_of_2026

+ 3 more evidence sources

info

Claim 9: “their average sea temperatures are very different: around 18°C in Antofagasta and 24°C in Rio de Janeiro.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence contains general definitions of 'average' but no specific temperature data for Antofagasta or Rio de Janeiro.

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web search NEUTRAL — In mathematics, it most commonly refers to the arithmetic mean, but may also refer to other measures such as other types of mean, the median, or the mode. Representation of the arithmetic mean, median…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Average

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web search NEUTRAL — In this context, the analog of a weighted average, in which there are infinitely many possibilities for the precise value of the variable in each range, is called the mean of the probability distribut…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arithmetic_mean

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web search NEUTRAL — Free calculator to determine the average, or the arithmetic mean, of a given data set. It also returns the calculation steps, sum, count, and more.
https://www.calculator.net/average-calculator.html

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Claim 10: “This occasional anomalous warm ocean current in the Pacific was originally noted by 19th-century Peruvian fishermen.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

While the general phenomenon of El Niño is documented, the provided evidence does not specifically confirm that it was first noted by 19th-century Peruvian fishermen.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered to the north by Ecuador and Colombia, to the east by Brazil, to the southeast by Bolivia, to the south by C…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peru

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 11: “This situation was the opposite of El Niño and was named La Niña.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 12: “In the 1960s, Norwegian-American meteorologist Jacob Bjerknes found that the warming of the South American Pacific caused by El Niño was linked to the Southern Oscillation”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 13: “This coordinated oscillation in atmospheric pressure across the South Pacific was named the Southern Oscillation.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was provided in the search results regarding the naming of the Southern Oscillation.

info

Claim 14: “Antofagasta on the Pacific coast, and Rio de Janeiro on the Atlantic coast... are at almost exactly the same latitude, the Tropic of Capricorn”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence confirms Antofagasta is in Chile, but does not provide the specific latitude comparison to Rio de Janeiro or the Tropic of Capricorn.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Antofagasta (Spanish pronunciation: [antofaˈɣasta] ⓘ) is a port city in northern Chile, about 1,100 kilometres (700 mi) north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Reg…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antofagasta

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web search NEUTRAL — The Antofagasta Region (Spanish: Región de Antofagasta, pronounced [antofaˈɣasta]) is one of Chile's sixteen first-order administrative divisions. Being the second-largest region of Chile in area, it …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antofagasta_Region

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web search NEUTRAL — El sitio web Antofagasta.cl es parte de una red de publicaciones digitales de noticias en todo Chile, donde podrás encontrar actualidad, tendencias, turismo, columnas y más.
https://www.antofagasta.cl/

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Claim 15: “El Niño brings rainfall—sometimes torrential—to the arid regions of Peru and northern Chile, home to the world's driest desert, the Atacama.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

verified

Claim 16: “These waters are normally quite cold due to the Humboldt Current—which flows from south to north along this section of South America's coastline—and due to the upwelling of deep cold waters.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia and web search results confirm the Humboldt Current flows north along the western coast of South America and that coastal upwelling brings cold deep waters to the surface.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 1769 – 6 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_von_Humboldt

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Humboldt Current, also called the Peru Current, is a cold, low-salinity ocean current that flows north along the western coast of South America. It is an eastern boundary current flowing in the di…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humboldt_Current

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Humboldt penguin (Spheniscus humboldti) is a medium-sized penguin. It resides in South America, along the Pacific coast of Peru and Chile. Its nearest relatives are the African penguin, the Magel…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humboldt_penguin

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 17: “the arrival of the warmer El Niño current meant the disappearance of their most abundant and prized fish, the anchoveta, which thrives in cold, plankton-rich waters.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm that El Niño events cause a collapse or crisis in the Peruvian anchoveta fishery because the fish thrive in the cold, nutrient-rich waters that disappear during El Niño.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — During the 1972 fishing season, Peruvian fisheries who largely depended on catching Peruvian anchovetas, a species of anchovy, faced a crisis in which the ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1972_Peruvian_anchoveta_crisis

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web search NEUTRAL — The Peruvian upwelling system, crucial to the global fisheries network, experiences strong interannual variations that deeply affect fish yields during El Niño ...
https://academic.oup.com/icesjms/article/82/12/fsaf214/83697…

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web search NEUTRAL — In other cases the cold surface waters completely disappear, and the anchovies dive to deeper water and disperse. ... Unfavorable currents may cause the eggs to ...
https://opensky.ucar.edu/system/files/2024-09/research_42.pd…

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Claim 18: “The last intense El Niño of the 20th century occurred in 1997–98, causing severe flooding in California.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.