It’s been good to have a break from the reads and in some ways, I’m not too excited about getting started again (there go my Saturdays), however, I do it to help my readers cope with the deluge of the information and news landscape today.
My greatest concern, as I watch the world move deeper into chaos, is a great wave of despair encircling the globe – a very dangerous place for us to land. We cannot afford to sink into despair; we must focus on the work at hand and turn the tide as much as possible.
But I’ll leave that thought for another week or show, because the issue really alarming me right now is heat. When I arrived in Singapore in 2003, I loved the heat. Many friends and family who visited asked how I coped with it, but I never had an issue. After experiencing winter in the UK and the US, I was totally done with cold, dreary weather.
However, things are changing, and heat in Asia is not the same. The last few years have been horrid, but there is always some respite for a few weeks or even months. Not this year. We might get a day here or there, otherwise it’s just hot and steamy all the time, which leaves me deeply concerned, because El Niño hasn’t even arrived.
With temperatures expected to be 3°C or even 4°C above the norm once the full peak of this event hits in the October/November timeframe, lasting long into next year, can you even imagine how hot it is going to get?
For those of us in the Global South, it’s going to be intense, especially for the poorest, because the expected record level of this event, according to the scientists, is something we have never experienced in human memory.
Concerned for my boys
Before I share some of the recent coverage on this, on a personal level, I am concerned for my boys. They are now both doing National Service here in Singapore, and while they are very well educated on recognizing heat symptoms, while also knowing the Singapore military takes heat VERY seriously, being Caucasian (or ang mohs) they definitely don’t deal with the heat as well as their Asian mates.
The October/November timeframe also worries me. The peak of basic military training is a 24km overnight route march from Changi into the City, and they wear full combat gear on the march. My older son Lex did it nearly two years ago, and it was steamy when he passed us at 10 pm on his way into the city.
My younger son Jax will be doing it in November, and well, that’s when El Niño will be in full force. So yeah, I’m worried about that, BUT I do trust the military to manage it safely. Deaths in NS is not something they want to deal with.
A recent photo of both boys. This is the first time we saw Jax after two weeks in BMT, and I have to say, he’s had a terrific attitude to this change of life. While many question why we’d put our boys through this (and it was our decision) I am committed to making sure they are strong and resilient for the future that is coming.
Heat and El Niño coverage worth reading
- James Hansen and team published their latest update, which is always worth paying attention to: Super-Duper El Nino and the Bigger Problem
- While a lot of focus has been on extreme heat in the Northern Hemisphere, the extreme heat events in Asia are well established. India is ground zero: City of Sweat • EQUATOR and here’s another research piece: India faces rising uncompensable heat stress, especially during monsoon season
- Two climate scientists who do not do panic, Andrew Dessler and Zeke Hausfather, shared this article, which also contains current graphs: Is this El Niño a glimpse of a future, hotter Earth?
- For anyone arguing that it’s just weather, show them these figures: U.S. Cities Are Seeing More 90-Degree Days Than Ever. Is Yours One of Them? | National Geographic
- The level of alarm that should be happening just isn’t here. For many of the countries in Asia, we will see enormous suffering in the next 12 months, which will impact lives, crops, and nature: Why extreme heat could be Asia’s most underestimated health challenge | News | Eco-Business | Asia Pacific
- Remember the fires in the Amazon during the last El Niño? It’s not good news: El Niño may peak at the worst time for the Amazon – and it should worry us all | Amazon rainforest | The Guardian
- It’s going to get hotter! Call this a hot summer? This phenomenon explains why next year may be worse
Get live updates here: El Niño 2026: Status, Timeline & Forecast — El Niño 2026 Tracker
Featured in the tracker is this chart, which compares the last three strongest events.
Wherever you live, understand the impacts of El Niño, while appreciating it will be a lot more extreme than previous events, and get prepared. We need a whole of society focus here. Don’t wait for governments to do it, everyone needs to be involved and take the threat seriously. I’ll keep you updated on what’s going on as this event builds.
Stay sane and focused
There is a lot going on in the news, and I know it can be hard to see straight, and while sitting in a state of constant outrage is completely understandable, it’s also exhausting and makes you miserable. I put the lens of the climate emergency over everything I pay attention to, and when you do that, most of the idiocy we see from our leaders becomes laughable – in a dark laugh kind of way.
As always, to keep up with the news, please check in on the world news the polycrisis site. It’s updated every day, and you can download it to your phone as an app to check in whenever you have a moment to spare.
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The Sh*t Show is back
The Sh*t Show is back next Friday, 28th August. We’re not going to do it every week, but we are still working out how often we do it and if we are going to change our approach. We’ll talk about it more next week, but in the meantime, check out the show. We always appreciate the support.
Dig into the news
When you visit the daily news page, remember to save it to your home screen and you can check the news anytime, as it’s updated throughout the day, every day – by a real human, me.
This news curation tool covers news and thought leadership across all issues relevant to the polycrisis, as well as some light stuff, because we can’t be serious all the time. To get to the news, click through on the image below, and a reminder, it goes back weeks, so have a scan and read/watch/listen to whatever jumps out at you. The categories are right on top as well, so you can dig into whatever issue you care about.
Let me know what caught your attention? Or share with me what has your attention now? There’s a lot going on, which means none of us can cover everything. Besides, it’s always great to get feedback so I know I’m delivering something of value.
Cheers
Andrea T Edwards, CSP
Making sense of the forces reshaping our world and what we can do about them
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About me
I help leaders make sense of the polycrisis, the interconnected ecological, social, technological, economic and geopolitical challenges shaping our future, and respond with clarity, courage and practical action.
Through strategic advisory, executive coaching, keynote speaking and workshops, I help organizations strengthen leadership, unlock the power of their people and navigate meaningful change.
I’m the author of Uncommon Courage, an invitation and 18 Steps to an All-Star LinkedIn Profile, co-host of The Sh*t Show, a livestream exploring the realities of the polycrisis and what we can do about it, as well as the podcast, Uncommon Courage.
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