Coral cores help uncover 400-year-old El Nino record

By Brett Anderson, AccuWeather senior meteorologist

5/08/2019, 12:12:45 PM

Using cores drilled from coral, Australian scientists have been able to produce the first 400-year-long seasonal record of El Nino events.

Coral cores are similar to tree rings, with centuries-long growth patterns and contain isotopes, which give clues to the climate long ago, according to the climate extremes report.

El Nino is the abnormal warming of the surface waters along a portion of the equatorial Pacific Ocean. El Nino can have significant impacts on weather patterns across portions of the world.

Walker circulation during an El Nino.

This is what the researchers found.........

1. A significant increase in central based Pacific El Nino activity in the late 20th century.

Central and eastern based El Nino SST anomaly patterns.

Dr. Mandy Freund (lead author) and her team found there has been an unprecedented increase in the number of El Ninos forming in the Central Pacific over the past 30 years, compared to all 30-year periods in the past 400 years.

2. There are some indications that a much stronger east-based El Nino, such as what occurred in 1997/1998 and 2015/2016, may be growing in intensity.

-----------

Below is a video about the study. Courtesy YouTube.

This peer-reviewed study is published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of AccuWeather, Inc. or AccuWeather.com

Comments

Comments that don't add to the conversation may be automatically or manually removed by Facebook or AccuWeather. Profanity, personal attacks, and spam will not be tolerated.

Global climate change

Going carbon neutral in the US may cost a trillion dollars annually by the year 2050

Global climate change - June 17, 2019, 10:56:45 AM EDT

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is not going to be cheap, but do we have any choice at this point?
The Arctic continues to rapidly warm with no end in sight

Global climate change - June 12, 2019, 2:08:42 PM EDT

The Arctic region continues to warm at about twice the rate than the planet as a whole and we see no evidence that this trend will significantly slow or reverse in the near future.
Increased risk for more intense hurricanes along the U.S. East Coast late this century

Global climate change - June 11, 2019, 9:34:21 AM EDT

The steady increase of greenhouse gas emissions may increase the risk of rapidly strengthening tropical storms and hurricanes along the East coast of the United States by late this century.
May 2019 global sea ice update

Global climate change - June 06, 2019, 2:02:34 PM EDT

Another near-record low sea ice extent month for the Arctic.
Converting one greenhouse gas to another as a way to reduce warming and make a profit

Global climate change - May 29, 2019, 10:57:41 AM EDT

New research shows a potential profitable way to reduce climate warming by converting methane to CO2.
Forests actually storing less carbon as planet continues to warm

Global climate change - May 15, 2019, 12:20:22 PM EDT

Trees are growing faster, but dying earlier, which is reducing the length of time that trees are storing carbon.
Coral cores help uncover 400-year-old El Nino record

Global climate change - May 08, 2019, 12:12:45 PM EDT

New research finds significant increase in central-based El Ninos in recent decades.
Large portion of the Southeast U.S. coast will be highly vulnerable to rising tides by 2030

Global climate change - May 01, 2019, 12:21:38 PM EDT

Rising sea levels may significantly threaten Southeast U.S. coastal species in the very near future.