The Latest Breaking News from El Niño

You’ve probably heard a lot about La Niña lately. This cool weather pattern is the main driver of heavy rain and flooding that has devastated much of Australia’s southeast in recent months.

Third consecutive La Niña, which has brought widespread rain and flooding to eastern Australia in 2022, is likely to end by next February, models show

Modelling suggests this La Niña will peak early. But how accurately can the experts predict this "messy natural process" and what difference does a strong La Niña make on the ground?

Over the summer of 2015, 40 million mangroves died of thirst. This vast die-off – the world’s largest ever recorded – killed off rich mangrove forests along fully 1,000 kilometres of coastline on Australia’s Gulf of Carpentaria.

Changes in mangrove cover across Australia are driven by tidal shifts caused by the wobble of the Moon, a study suggests.

Analysis of satellite imaging shows correlation between fluctuation in mangrove canopy cover and lunar nodal cycle

Australia has among the highest prevalence of asthma and hay fever globally. La Niña (and El Niño) will undoubtedly affect allergy sufferers.

As climate change dries the Colorado River Basin, the region's megacities may eventually dry up, too

One of the worst mangrove diebacks in the world was recorded in Australia in 2016. Now, scientists have identified the cause — but it may be too late for the ecosystems to recover.

Wildfire is a phenomenon that has affected pretty much every vegetated environment on Earth for millions of years. However, during the past few decades, the planet has been experiencing extraordinary wildfire activity, with widespread devastation in diverse places such as the Mediterranean, North and South America, Southeast Asia, Australia and…

Environmental scientists see flora, fauna and phenomena the rest of us rarely do. In this series, we’ve invited them to share their unique photos from the field.