António Guterres: "adding fuel to a planet already on fire"

Addressing the UN on Friday, António Guterres warned that the strengthening El Niño could break temperature records and push the climate into unknown conditions, comparing its effect to worsening a crisis that is already severe. The UN secretary-general noted Pacific waters driving the pattern are about 3°C above normal, the earliest such warmth on record, and cited a World Meteorological Organization forecast that most of Earth’s land areas will be hotter than average through October. He pointed to summer heat waves, wildfires in Europe, and a weak Indian monsoon as emerging consequences. Guterres called for heat-protection measures, workplace safety standards, climate-resilient infrastructure, and above all a reduction in fossil fuel use.