El Niг±o (2016) May 2026

Thousands of miles away, the massive shift in ocean temperatures was playing puppet master with the global atmosphere, altering the jet streams that circle the Earth.

It had started late in 2015 when the easterly trade winds suddenly stalled and collapsed. Instead of the cool, nutrient-rich Humboldt Current rising from the deep ocean to feed massive schools of anchoveta, a massive, sluggish blanket of warm water pushed across the equator from the western Pacific. To Mateo’s ancestors, this seasonal warming near Christmas was known as El Niño —the Christ Child. But what was happening now was no gentle seasonal shift. This was a giant waking up. El niГ±o (2016)

The impacts of the 2015/2016 El Niño on California's sandy beaches Thousands of miles away, the massive shift in

Mateo stood on the sun-baked docks of Paita, Peru, watching the Pacific Ocean. For generations, his family of fishermen had lived by the rhythms of the sea. But by the early months of 2016, those rhythms had been entirely shattered. To Mateo’s ancestors, this seasonal warming near Christmas