An advisory released this August by the US National Weather Service warned this year’s El Niño could be among the strongest ever recorded, lasting well into the first few months of 2016.
Facing an El Niño of this scale, urbanised regions risk exposure to pollution from lit forests and plantations, droughts and overexploitation of freshwaterresources, environmental degradation and heat waves. All of these will undoubtedly have costs that disproportionately fall upon the poor and most...