Evidence builds showing climate change could be intensifying El Niño events
As a potentially historic El Niño builds in the Pacific, evidence suggests that climate change is ratcheting up the intensity of such events. And as temperatures rise in the future, the number and frequency of strong El Niños could increase even further, some experts say. “The evidence is accumulating that climate change makes for more […]
As an exceptionally large El Niño event builds in the Pacific, research indicates that climate change is amplifying the intensity of such occurrences. Experts project that with rising temperatures in the future, the number and frequency of strong El Niños could escalate even more. Mark Cane, a climate scientist from Columbia University, stated that accumulating evidence points to climate change leading to more powerful El Niños.
This year's El Niño is on the brink of setting new records, with forecasts predicting it will peak between October and December 2026. According to a pre-print study, an event of this magnitude is six times more probable due to climate change. Cane emphasized that the 2026-2027 event will be "very large," comparable to the largest occurrences recorded.
A coral reef in the Galapagos Islands suffered a devastating loss in 1982 when a reef-killing marine heatwave triggered by a particularly strong El Niño wiped out approximately 95% of the coral, leaving behind "death horizons" in the coral samples. The debate surrounding whether climate change is intensifying El Niños and their frequency, as well as whether this trend will persist, remains unresolved. Current El Niños can be forecasted...
Written by urgent.news from Mongabay's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
