# El Niño’s global death toll hides a troubling imbalance

Source: [Earth.com](https://www.earth.com/climate/el-ninos-global-death-toll-hides-a-troubling-imbalance/) · 2026-11-11 · Earth & Climate
Page: https://themorning.science/story/el-nino-s-global-death-toll-hides-a-troubling-imbalance-118411c36fb72b6b
Kind: research · Impact: medium

## In brief

- Very strong El Niño years are associated with an estimated 107,000 additional heat-related deaths annually compared with neutral conditions.
- In the same comparison, very strong El Niño years are associated with an estimated 113,000 fewer cold-related deaths annually.
- Globally, the heat and cold figures nearly cancel out, but the source argues this should not be reassuring.

## Why it matters

Net global mortality figures can hide large shifts in which causes of death rise or fall, which matters for health planning and heat protection. The source notes that the people dying from heat are not evenly spread across the population.

## Coverage

- [El Niño’s global death toll hides a troubling imbalance](https://www.earth.com/climate/el-ninos-global-death-toll-hides-a-troubling-imbalance/) — Earth.com, 2026-11-11

Tags: el nino, heat deaths, cold deaths, climate health, mortality

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Brief generated by AI (claude-haiku-5-5) from the reporting listed under Coverage. Headlines belong to their publishers. The Morning Science – https://themorning.science