The catastrophic weather phenomenon El Niño is brewing in the Pacific. It’s intensifying fast — the ocean hasn’t been this warm in at least 12,000 years .

Climate models say it’s on track to be the strongest on record, possibly the strongest in far longer than records have been kept. Soon, the effects will ripple across the planet: drought in some places, deluges in others.

We sat down with Lee Hannah, Conservation International’s lead climate scientist, to talk about what this El Niño could mean — not just for this year, but for a future where these events hit harder and more often, for wildlife and people alike.

What is El Niño?

Lee Hannah: It's a global climate pattern — a specific set of ocean and atmospheric conditions that develops in the Pacific and ends up affecting weather worldwide.…