El Niño, El Niño, we’ve had it up to here with you!

Opinion climate crisisdroughtheatwavestormstemperaturesWeather El Niño, El Niño, we’ve had it up to here with you! El Nino 1536x1024 Relevant News El Niño, El Niño, we’ve had it up to here with you! 4 September 2026 A new school year looms 4 September 2026 Entik case: 43-year-old Sokpa to be remanded, faces “military court” 4 September 2026 Christos Michaelides 4 September 2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber Seriously? We haven’t seen anything yet… Or maybe you reckon that in your own little corner of the world, “it’ll never happen to us.” Go on then, keep telling yourself you’ve got it sorted. Just the other day, the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, a man who knows a thing or two about this, is deeply worried. The world has stepped into a “danger zone of extreme weather.” The effects of El Niño are starting to be felt across the globe, Guterres warned. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) released the latest data on the phenomenon, and it shows this could be the strongest El Niño in more than 70 years, one that might not let go until at least February 2027. El Niño is rewriting weather patterns across the planet, dragging some regions into drought while others get battered by ferocious hurricanes and floods. Meteorologists say El Niño will also push temperatures higher in some places, piling on top of the planet’s already rising heat, that little “achievement” of man-made climate change. “El Niño is supercharging before our very eyes. Science leaves no room for doubt: the planet is in uncharted waters, and those waters are getting warmer,” Guterres said. We’re not just talking about scientific findings here. We’re talking about a mountain of small and large causes, already burning through our planet, slowly but relentlessly draining away the water that keeps it alive. The savage storms. The unthinkable tempests. The catastrophic floods that bring down mountains, homes, people… And then there are the terrifying wildfires, whether from climate chaos or a human hand, which plenty of people shrug off as “just nature doing its thing, what can you do?” You can do something! In New York, when it snows in every neighbourhood, parents come out with their kids and shovels and clear the streets and pavements themselves. They don’t sit around waiting for the council. In our own neighbourhood, in Kifisia, we spread out along our two streams, clear the banks, cut and gather the dead branches, and keep them for kindling when the cold snaps hit. Bit by bit, that’s what I want to say, people, even here in unruly Greece, are banding together to clear the dry scrub, taking shifts to patrol the danger spots. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows. Far from it. But, as the Beatles put it, and we sing along even as everything’s being swept away around us: “Oh, we’ll be fine with a little help from our friends”! I want to believe, or at least I try to stay close to my faith, whatever that looks like these days, while also respecting those who follow a different religion, or even a different strand of Christianity. I respect atheists too. Most of them, for obvious reasons, keep their views on all this to themselves. One of them, a good friend, a fine writer, argues his case calmly. Yesterday, I saw a post of his on social media, addressed to the actor Dimitris Piatas, a friend of his, which read: “—Dimitri, have you heard? Abbot Ephraim’s suing me, for defamation and serious moral damage. He’s after a hundred thousand euros in compensation. What should I do? —Give him two hundred thousand and tell him to keep the change!” I don’t know what to say to that. I hold to the belief that people of God should be able to tolerate, even love, those who see things differently… Subscribe to our Newsletter Latest News A new school year looms Entik case: 43-year-old Sokpa to be remanded, faces “military court” Polish Embassy to screen Jack Strong at Pantheon Theatre Limassol police chase: suspects threw crab, car battery at officers Israeli minister sets out plan to expel all Palestinians from Gaza At what cost? Greece’s €3 billion defence deal with Israel At least 37 dead in Nigeria pipeline incident, group says Follow en.philenews on Google News and be the first to know all the news about Cyprus and the world.