Biggest El Nino in ‘over a century’ to dial up global heat, India braces for double crop hit

This year’s El Niño is on track to become the most powerful in over a century, with Pacific waters expected to heat up more than 3°C above normal — a level that would dwarf every El Niño event in the modern climate record and could push 2027 past 2024 as the hottest year ever recorded globally, Britain’s Met Office said on Friday.In India, where El Niño is already depressing the monsoon, the implications stretch across two crop seasons, with the current one already facing uncertainty with the rains having stalled.“We are expecting the biggest El Nino for over a century, peaking at something over three degrees -- that is unheard of in modern climate records,” said Adam Scaife, head of long-range forecasting at the Met Office, telling the BBC that even a 2°C rise is considered a “really big event.” The 2015-16 El Niño — the current record-holder — peaked…