A big El Niño is looming. Here’s what it means for our weather.

Heat waves have already baked parts of Asia this year, and a looming El Niño is poised to add to the heat, threatening crops in places like Malaysia. | Samsul Said/Bloomberg via Getty Images

How warm water in the Pacific shapes storms, droughts, and record heat around the world.

El Niño is the warm phase of the Pacific Ocean’s temperature cycle, and this year’s El Niño is poised to be a big one, sending shock waves into weather patterns around the world. It’s likely to set new heat records...