Updated

Governments across Asia, from Sri Lanka to South Korea, are rushing preparations for what forecasters are calling the most severe El Niño event on record, fueled by exceptionally warm tropical Pacific waters. Hundreds of millions of people face compounding risks including extreme heat, heavy rainfall, drought, wildfires, typhoons and food shortages, testing the region's climate resilience plans as never before. Commentators, including climate scientist Bill McGuire, warn the incoming 'super' El Niño could trigger one of the biggest global weather upheavals in a millennium, worsened by underlying climate change, with impacts expected to unfold through the rest of the year and beyond.