El Niño: The weather event that could reshape your food bill, portfolio, and Southern Africa’s future
In 1877, the rains never came. Across huge swaths of the world – southern Africa, India, China, Brazil – crops failed. Rivers dried up. Food shortfalls spiralled into one of the deadliest catastrophes in modern history. Historians estimate that tens of millions perished as harvests collapsed on multiple continents simultaneously.
Most people today have never heard of it.
But scientists now believe the same type of event – a Super El Niño – may be forming again. And the latest data suggests this one could be historically stronger than anything since that 1877 event.
