Colombia's government confirms El Niño will be among the most intense since 1950

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Colombia's Environment Ministry reported that the El Niño weather phenomenon has arrived three months earlier than expected and could become one of the most intense events since 1950. The warming of equatorial Pacific ocean waters is already underway, raising concerns about subsequent climatic impacts.

Colombia's Environment Ministry confirmed on Thursday that the El Niño phenomenon arrived about three months earlier than expected and that, if projections hold, it will be one of the "most intense recorded since 1950," according to data from the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (Ideam). The agency said the conditions associated with the phenomenon —which warms ocean waters above normal— are already present in the equatorial Pacific.