Researchers report a shift in the onset of El Niño events from the eastern Pacific to the western Pacific and an increase in the frequency of extreme El Niño events, as measured by sea surface temperature anomalies, since the late 1970s, likely due to background warming in the equatorial western Pacific; climate model simulations suggest that the extreme El Niño events are likely to become more frequent and intense if such warming continues under anthropogenic climate change, according to the authors.
Article #19-11130: "Historical change of El Niño properties sheds light on future changes of extreme El Niño," by Bin Wang et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Bin Wang, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI; tel: 808-956-2563, 808-396-7868, 808-428-9329; e-mail: wangbin@hawaii.edu
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences