New research from coral samples confirms that ENSO (El Niño-Southern Oscillation) events have increased in both intensity and frequency throughout the twentieth century. Paleoclimatologist Kim Cobb, of the Georgia Institute of Technology, and her team of researchers have been drilling coral samples in Kiribati and using them to build a historical record of ocean temperatures and rainfall patterns in the Pacific that stretches back 7,000 years. Such evidence forms the basis for Cobb’s forthcoming work, which argues that the size and frequency of ENSO events, although varying widely over past millennia, steadily increased during the twentieth century. Click here for the full article published by Hakai Magazine.
Climate History Network