Study Finds El Niño Events and Global Warming Feed a Vicious Cycle

A new study published in the journal Science by a team led by Judith Cole of the University of Michigan shows that stronger El Niño events are becoming more common and that rising global temperatures in turn intensify future El Niño episodes. The researchers report a clear trend of increasingly powerful El Niño events, and they argue that the heat added to the planet by these events creates conditions that favor even stronger subsequent El Niños. The paper was highlighted in a recent interview with The Guardian, where Cole explained how the feedback loop could accelerate warming on a global scale.