Climate security

El Niño weather events are about to become more extreme thanks to climate change, study says

Climate change will cause El Niños to be stronger, a new study suggests.

El Niños, which occur every few years, are the natural warming of seawater in the tropical Pacific Ocean that fuel weather extremes in the U.S. and around the world.

Looking back at dozens of El Niños in the past century, scientists found that they have been forming farther to the west since the 1970s. Water is naturally warmer in the western Pacific Ocean, which translates to stronger El Niños.

And in the future, continued warming over the western Pacific as a result of climate change promises conditions that will trigger more extreme El Niño events, according to study lead author Bin Wang, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Hawaii.

That's important because past El Niños – especially strong ones – have wreaked havoc around the world.

For example, globally, the 1997-98 El Niño caused thousands of deaths from severe storms, heatwaves, floods and drought, costing $32 billion to $96 billion, according to a United Nations study.