Study Finds El Niño Strongest in 1,000 Years as Global Warming Intensifies Swings
Updated
Updated · Ars Technica · Aug 31
Study Finds El Niño Strongest in 1,000 Years as Global Warming Intensifies Swings
3 articles · Updated · Ars Technica · Aug 31
Summary
Galápagos coral records show eastern Pacific El Niño events are now stronger than at any point in the past 1,000 years, according to a study led by University of Michigan scientist Julie Cole.
The finding points to global warming as a driver of more dramatic ENSO swings, with added heat in the atmosphere and oceans amplifying the system’s warm phase.
Cole’s team built the long-term record from fossilized corals because climate models disagree and modern instrumental observations are too short to clearly isolate a trend.
ENSO is Earth’s biggest source of year-to-year climate variability, shifting tropical rainfall, drying Australia, flooding parts of Peru and reshaping weather patterns worldwide.