When El Niño becomes an economic crisis
The article warns that the return of El Niño in 2026 poses a significant economic threat to India, potentially causing heat stress, water scarcity, and food inflation. It highlights the vulnerability of India's informal economy to climate-driven weather disturbances.
Why it matters
It underscores the systemic economic risks posed by climate change to developing nations.
India often meets the arrival of extreme heat and erratic rain with a familiar shrug: the weather is harsh, the monsoon is uncertain, and life must go on. But that response misses the larger point. If El Niño returns as forecast, India will not face merely a weather disturbance; it will face a development crisis in which heat stress, water scarcity, crop losses, and food inflation expose the fragility of the informal economy.
The article relies on scientific forecasts from NOAA and the IMD to provide an economic analysis.
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