As super El Nino strengthens, study suggests that climate change is intensifying El Ninos
A new study suggests that El Ninos—the natural climatic chaos agent that pops up periodically and spikes global temperatures—are getting stronger because of human-caused climate change.
A new study suggests that El Ninos—the natural climatic chaos agent that pops up periodically and spikes global temperatures—are getting stronger because of human-caused climate change.
The short version
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- Cole said measurements of the ratio of calcium and strontium in coral skeletons and of different oxygen isotopes create two independent readings of the seawater in which the coral formed.
- Another measurement of uranium and thorium tell when those skeletons were formed.
What happened
Cole looked at 29 coral fossils in the Galapagos Islands—14 from before the industrial era, 14 after the modern era began and one more from about the time the industrial era was starting up. The oldest was from around year 1100.
Why it matters
The temperatures she derived from the fossils over more than 900 years are patchy, with gaps, but when charted it, she said it looks like a hockey stick, the same description used for a 1990s landmark study of past global temperatures.
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