Scientists from the University of Michigan have found that the large-scale natural phenomenon El Niño has become almost 40% more intense in the past 40 years than in the pre-industrial era.
Modern El Niño episodes are stronger than any that occurred over the roughly 1,000-year period prior to the mid-19th century.
The researchers found that the intensification of El Niño has occurred in parallel with rising global temperatures. The main driver of this trend is anthropogenic climate change, primarily associated with increased greenhouse gas concentrations.
Climate change can not only gradually increase the Earth's average temperature but also intensify natural climate fluctuations and make extreme heat more severe.
El Niño is a periodic warming of the surface waters of the equatorial Pacific Ocean which affects weather far beyond that region. It can alter precipitation patterns, intensify droughts and floods, and increase the likelihood of extreme weather events in different parts of the planet, according to internet portal Ecosphere.
Alex Shishlo, Editor in Chief of the European Bureau, Rough&Polished
