El Nino

The developing El Nino is stronger than the last major event of its type in 1997.

According to the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the UK Met Office, this El Nino is shaping up to be the strongest since records began in 1950.

El Nino is a natural phenomenon which occurs every two to seven years and lasts between six and 18 months.

Almost the entire Pacific region is preparing for the onset of what climate forecasters predict could be one of the worst El Niño events since the late 1990s.

Our correspondent in the Marshall Islands, Giff Johnson, says the system has been building all year, with meteorologists there predicting a drought that could last for six to nine months.

He says the last El Niño-related drought in 1997 was devastating.

Noah Kool says 300,000 people in the province have been affected by frosts and drought, which has caused water supplies to dry up and food gardens to be destroyed.

He says the lack of water has meant schools are closing, public servants are not working and the hospital is shutting its doors.

Mr Kool says the national government needs to do a thorough assessment of what aid is needed.

Forecasters from the UN's World Meteorological Organisation are also warning the weather phenomenon may gather strength and reach its peak between October and January – with its effects felt for many weeks afterwards.

El Niño events happen every few years when the wind shifts in the Pacific Ocean along the equator.

It can have devastating consequences for agriculture and disease and influences heavy rain in North and South America and higher temperatures in Asia and Africa.

New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) says water temperatures, which dictate El Niño's strength, are already 3-5°C above normal, with the potential to climb even higher in coming months.

Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Tonga are already affected by drought, with hundreds of thousands of farmers in PNG's Highlands region losing crops, prompting a national disaster response.

NIWA Forecaster Chris Brandolino said the current El Niño was projected to last well into the new year.

New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research says water temperatures, which dictate El Niño's strenght, are already 3-5 degrees above normal with the potential to climb even higher in coming months.

Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Tonga are already affected by drought, with hundreds of thousands of farmers in PNG's Highlands region losing crops, prompting a national disaster response.

NIWA Forecaster Chris Brandolino says the current El Niño is projected to last well into the new year.