Shaun Martin is the vice president for practice and sustainability at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in the United States..
“Adapt or perish, now as before, is nature’s unshakeable bond.” A century later, HG Wells’ warning reads less like philosophy and more like a prediction of the near future.
Last week, the World Meteorological Organization predicted that a strong El Niño – a naturally occurring weather pattern marked by unusually warm ocean temperatures in the Pacific – will intensify in 2026, becoming one of the strongest in history, capable of causing floods, droughts and extreme heat around the world.
This warning should make one thing clear: we need to move quickly to adapt to a rapidly changing climate.
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Shaun Martin is the vice president for practice and sustainability at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in the United States..
“Adapt or perish, now as before, is nature’s unshakeable bond.” A century later, HG Wells’ warning reads less like philosophy and more like a prediction of the near future.
Last week, the World Meteorological Organization predicted that a strong El Niño – a naturally occurring weather pattern marked by unusually warm ocean temperatures in the Pacific – will intensify in 2026, becoming one of the strongest in history, capable of causing floods, droughts and extreme heat around the world.
This warning should make one thing clear: we need to move quickly to adapt to a rapidly changing climate.
Scientists warn that El Niño could intensify the bad weather in 2026
What does it mean to take climate change seriously? It means recognizing that building resilience to increasing risks must inform planning and policy-making efforts that go beyond trying to reduce climate emissions.
Increasing climate risks such as extended heat waves or heavy rainfall should guide decisions about where homes are built, what crops are grown, and how natural resources are managed. We need to invest in systems that are resilient and resilient to climate change rather than succumbing to it.
The effects come before the appointed time
For decades, climate action has focused on mitigation – reducing carbon emissions to prevent future damage. That work is always important. But it works on a slower timeline than the effects we have now in real time and ahead of schedule. The strengthening of the 2026 El Niño makes that discrepancy impossible to ignore.
In the first few months of 2026 more than 600,000 forest lands were burned worldwide – the equivalent of 81 million football fields – the highest number on record for this point in the year. Sea temperatures are at record highs, Arctic sea ice is at record lows, and many regions have experienced extreme, unseasonal heat.
A strengthening El Niño later this year could push these trends further, possibly making 2026 one of the hottest years on record.
El Niño is expected to bring the next hottest year as soon as 2027
The climate today is fundamentally different from that which changed the El Niño events in the past. Heat waves are very hot. The drought lasts a long time. The rain is coming with more and more destructive fireworks. Even the cool periods of history no longer offer relief.
El Niño’s counterpart, La Niña, now originates in a warmer climate with ocean temperatures during the cooler phases of La Niña exceeding those seen during “very good” El Niño events such as 1998 and 2016. Yesterday’s extremes have become today’s baseline, and this new level of chaos will test the limits of preparedness across the country.
Pragmatic preparations to build resilience
When it comes to policy making, the focus should be on strengthening the health and resilience of communities facing increasing climate risks. Across the United States, communities are already feeling the effects of a rapidly changing climate. Preparing and resisting what is coming is not an idea; pragmatic.
The WHO is issuing new guidance on climate action plans, as El Niño begins
Planning that prioritizes resilience, modernizing infrastructure and investing in adaptation helps protect food systems, protect homes and supply chains, and strengthen critical infrastructure. Keeping the strength and stability of local communities at the center of decision-making is essential to building a more secure and resilient future.
Conservation organizations have long stressed that adapting to climate change is not just about dealing with disasters, but about building resilience in ways that support people and the environment. That means working with communities, governments and businesses to reduce vulnerability to environmental hazards, strengthen local resilience, and implement solutions that improve nature’s ability to protect us.
Adaptation is based on nature
In coastal regions, for example, mangrove forests act as natural buffers – they absorb storm surges, strengthen coastlines and protect nearby communities.
In Mexico, the World Wildlife Fund and its partners are using sensor networks, drones and artificial intelligence to monitor mangrove health and climate in real time. The project analyzes how these ecosystems respond to storms, heat and changing water conditions, helping communities and policy makers to adapt their conservation strategies accordingly. It’s a vision of what climate change looks like at its best: place-based, data-driven and environmentally focused.
Climate risk is not a single problem to be solved but a system to be managed. Addressing it requires rethinking and integrating conservation, economic development and disaster reduction into a single, but multi-faceted, empowerment-focused agenda.
It will also expose weaknesses in infrastructure, stress-testing disaster response plans and the perceived challenge of what constitutes a “normal” weather year. And it will remind us that even the best predictions can’t mitigate the impact – only adaptation can.
The problem is not that we are ignoring climate change. Because he did not judge his time well. These risks are no longer a future risk to be avoided; they are a present reality that must be dealt with. HG Wells’ warning remains. We need to adapt or perish, now as never before.
