Much is being made of a record-strength El Niño event that could well spell a drier, windier summer for the north and east of New Zealand. But, as a major new stocktake shows, it is forming against a backdrop of warming that’s pushed the country’s climate into “uncharted territory”.
The Our Atmosphere and Climate 2026 report shows New Zealand has warmed by 1.36°C since record keeping began in 1909, with seven of the ten warmest years within the decade since 2016.
