2023 was the warmest year since records began. One cause is suspected to be almost 10,000 kilometers away in the eastern Pacific. There, the weather phenomenon El Niño is disrupting global weather systems through sometimes mysterious remote effects. Meteorologist Sven Plöger is on board the German research yacht “Eugen Seibold” in Panama to gain a better understanding of the cyclically recurring weather event. Will El Niños become even more extreme in the future because they are intensified by global warming? Plöger is also on the trail of El Niño and its consequences on the Panama Canal and in the country’s rainforests.

WRITER & DIRECTOR: Luise Wagner     CAMERA & EDITOR: Jonas Sichert     SOUND: Maike Simon     COMMISSIONING EDITOR: Christine Seidemann (SWR), Julia Küssendorf (SWR), Gabriele Trost (SWR)