It\u2019s well understood that El Ni\u00f1o, which typically brings a surge of global heat, further amplifies the escalating<\/a> climate crisis, with next year almost certain to be the hottest on record globally. But the new research has established that the reverse is also the case: human-caused global heating is making El Ni\u00f1o itself more intense when it does arrive.<\/p>\n \u201cOur findings suggest El Ni\u00f1o can supercharge global warming but also global warming can supercharge El Ni\u00f1o \u2013 that is what we are seeing,\u201d said Julia Cole, a climate researcher at the University of Michigan, who led the new study, published in Science<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are seeing a trend of stronger El Ni\u00f1os and the one we have now is consistent with that trend \u2013 it\u2019s not a fluke. We are seeing a shift where El Ni\u00f1o doesn\u2019t look like what it did prior to industrial times. That is bad news for climate hazards and for people, particularly those who are badly impacted and yet have done little to cause climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n As the world has heated up due to the use of fossil fuels, a string of recent \u201csuper\u201d El Ni\u00f1o events has provided extra acceleration, with intense events causing the global temperature record to fall in 1998<\/a>, then 2016<\/a> and then further in 2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n Such strong El Ni\u00f1o episodes have become far more common as overall global temperatures have risen, scientists found in the new research, which painstakingly analyzed the composition of large boulder-like deposits of coral fossils found on the Gal\u00e1pagos Islands.<\/p>\n These old corals, which date to 1,000 years ago, contain chemical compositions that indicate what the sea surface temperature was like when they were alive. The Gal\u00e1pagos, situated off the coast of mainland Ecuador, is \u201cright in the heart of El Ni\u00f1o country\u201d, Cole said, where surrounding waters heat up during such an event.<\/p>\n While El Ni\u00f1os remained fairly stable for most of this long period, things started to change around the time the world started to mass industrialize in the late 19th century. This process has become even more extreme in the past 40 years, with El Ni\u00f1os\u2019 variability now around 37% higher than during preindustrial times.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter the El Ni\u00f1o in 1982, we start seeing much more variability; it\u2019s a lot more extreme and looks like nothing in the previous 1,000 years,\u201d said Cole, whose team managed to rule out any random or naturally occurring reason for this switch.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat surprised me was how consistent it was. There is just such a large, distinct difference between what has been happening in the last 40 years compared to preindustrial times.\u201d<\/p>\n The findings could help provide an answer to one of the more vexing questions in climate science, which has until now been unclear, on whether the climate crisis is significantly changing the strength of El Ni\u00f1o events.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a strong indication that climate change may already be amplifying El Ni\u00f1o events,\u201d said Samantha Stevenson-Karl, a University of California, Santa Barbara scientist and study co-author. \u201cIf that\u2019s true, then really large events like the one that seems to be brewing in the tropical Pacific right now might become more common in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to Down to Earth<\/p>\n The planet’s most important stories. Get all the week’s environment news – the good, the bad and the essential<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Such a scenario is set to have profound impacts<\/a> upon countries already dealing with growing incidences of heatwaves, wildfires and flooding worsened by the climate crisis. As El Ni\u00f1o gathers strength, caused by the weakening of trade winds that usually push surface heat to the western Pacific, parts of South America and the southern US often face heavier rainfall and floods.<\/p>\n In India, meanwhile, the monsoon season is typically reduced by El Ni\u00f1o, while countries such as Indonesia and Australia face drier conditions, triggering droughts. The huge El Ni\u00f1o event that is currently growing could push about 50 million people worldwide into acute hunger before the end of next year due to the impact upon food production, a recent forecast found<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784039477_634_500.jpg\")
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