Shadowing Practice: Asia to cope with super El Niño | Vietnam Today - Learn English Speaking with Video

June 5th marks World Environment Day, putting climate risks back in focus.

And one pattern now drawing growing attention is El Nino, as parts of Asia face unusual hot and persistent weather.

So we look at why El Nino is being watched so closely and what a stronger event could mean for weather,

agriculture, water supplies and public health across the region.

Across Asia, temperatures have been rising sharply in recent weeks.

The growing heat is becoming one of the region's most visible weather trends.

In India, temperatures reach 48.2 degrees Celsius in Sri Ghanagar,

Rajasthan, while Vietnam and several other countries reported prolonged heat waves.

El Nino is a climate pattern that happens when surface waters in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean become warmer than usual.

And it is a naturally occurring climate pattern

that typically occurs once every two to seven years and lasts nine to 12 months.

However, the World Meteorological Organization says early indicators suggest El Nino

could become a particularly strong event this year now this extreme pattern could disrupt rainfall agriculture water supplies

and disease risks across the region

while adding a temporary boost to global temperatures in 2026

so to understand how serious this could become

and what the region should prepare for were joined by dr. Theodore keeping climate scientist at Imperial College London, UK.

Thank you very much for joining us today.

So for the first question, now, Doctor, some forecasts that,

you know, forecasts have raised the possibility of Super El Nino this year.

So how could we interpret it

and how could it affect weather patterns across different regions

so we know that el nino is a regular oscillation

that happens in the world's climate with a warmer

and a cooler pool of water from the central to the the eastern Pacific.

And what we can detect now is that a very warm pool is developing under the eastern Pacific over the coast, towards the coast of Chile,

which has a very strong influence on the planet's climate.

And the term super really just signifies that we are seeing in some forecasts

that this warm patch of water is particularly hot

and therefore will have a particularly strong effect on regional weather patterns in Asia and South America and beyond.

How could its impacts vary across different parts of Asia?

Yeah, so as the El Nino starts to develop, as its forecast to next month,

we'll start to see heat events becoming more likely in India and Southeast Asia.

And then as we travel towards December, we start to see El Nino having the strongest effects where it's associated with severe drought conditions

and a higher likelihood of temperature extremes across the region.

So, So, for example, in Vietnam, the likelihood of severe droughts is higher in an Al Nino year from December to February.

And also the likelihood of heat extremes is much higher as well.

The chance of severe droughts actually decreases and in China flips to chances of much more severe heavy rainfall.

and actually the chance of particularly hot weather stretches all the way up to Japan and South Korea as well.

Right.

So what are the key risks governments and communities should prepare for, especially when climate change means future heat waves,

droughts or floods could be even more severe, like you've mentioned, than anything seen in the past?

So we know that with climate change, hot extremes and dry extremes are both becoming more likely.

But where we see an even stronger increase in the occurrence of events is in events that are both dry and hot,

because the effects are multiplicative in the likelihood of both of those things happening.

And we know that hot and dry weather events have a particularly devastating effect on certain crop harvests, especially rice.

And so what that means is that we need to be prepared for unprecedented extremes.

So it's really important that our heat adaptation plans are not just prepared for the worst extreme we've seen,

but also for an extreme that's worse than that.

And the same for our drought preparedness and flood preparedness in China as well.

Well, thank you, doctor, for joining us and sharing your insights.

And as we have just heard, El Nino can alter wider weather patterns across Asia, bringing higher risks of heat, drought and disrupted rainfall.

A strong El Nino could also push up food, energy and commodity prices, adding pressure to both households and national economies.

One of the sectors likely to be hit the hardest is agriculture,

where even small changes in temperature or water availability can affect harvests and livelihoods.

And across the region, farmers are already finding new ways to adapt, from changing crop choices and planting schedules to using water more carefully,

as weather conditions become harder to predict.

In the north central provinces of Vietnam, recent prolonged high temperatures are affecting both crop fields and livestock farms.

Water supplies are becoming more difficult to manage, while farmers are having to work harder to protect harvest and maintain production.

In pineapple and watermelon fields, protective nets are being used to reduce direct sunlight and keep moisture in the soil.

In drought-prone areas, farmers are drilling wells and storing water for irrigation.

My family uses mesh covers to protect pineapples from sun damage.

The protective meshes can shield the crop from discoloration and help retain moisture, improving productivity and income.

Livestock farms are also improving ventilation, installing cooling fans and preparing feed and water supplies to keep animals healthy during the heat.

Extreme heat poses serious risks to livestock health, particularly for deer and poultry.

We have prepared water supplies to prevent disease outbreaks during hot weather.

Thai farmers are facing similar concerns.

Many Longan growers now have to spend more just to keep their orchards running.

On this farm, irrigation and groundwater are still available for now.

But nearby orchards are already seeing water channels drying up.

If the drought deepens, farmers fear the gains from higher fruit prices could quickly be wiped out by crop losses

and mounting production costs.

The heat this year is more intense than in any previous year, and water supplies are becoming inadequate.

Some areas have completely run dry.

Only orchids with their own private underground wells currently have enough water to survive.

As El Nino adds more uncertainty to weather patterns, farmers across the region are being forced to adapt faster to protect their harvest and livelihoods.

The challenge is no longer just about surviving one hot season, but about preparing for farming under a changing climate.

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Shadowing Practice: Asia to cope with super El Niño | Vietnam Today - Learn English Speaking with Video

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