** Warning: Graphic Images A Super El Niño is coming. This is what we can expect on the horizon. El Niño and La Niña are natural cycles of atmospheric and oceanic patterns in the Pacific that affect weather worldwide. Normally, trade winds push warm surface water westward, and cool, nutrient-rich water rises from the deep in a process called upwelling, enriching marine ecosystems. During El Niño, those trade winds slow, upwelling weakens, and the effects cascade up the food chain. With climate change, El Niño is becoming more extreme and frequent, driving marine heatwaves, coral bleaching, harmful algal blooms, decimated seagrass beds, and mass die-offs of marine life. We are coming off a “cooler” La Niña period, and 2023–2025 were still the warmest years on record. This Super El Niño is starting from a warmer baseline than ever. The ocean has been absorbing excess heat, buffering us from the full consequences of climate change — for now. Will those consequences be as easy to ig...