As super El Nino strengthens, study suggests that climate change is intensifying El Ninos

A study published Thursday in the journal Science found that El Niño events are now more than 36% stronger than before the Industrial Revolution, with a 16% jump in just the last 40 years. Researchers analyzed 1,000 years of temperature records preserved in living and fossil corals from the Galápagos Islands. The intensification coincides with postindustrial warming and exceeds natural variability, leading the authors to conclude human-caused climate change is the leading explanation. Lead author Julia Cole of the University of Michigan said the increase in El Niño strength closely parallels global temperature rise from fossil fuel burning. The findings come as the 2026 El Niño, which formed months ago, is forecast to become the strongest on record. Forecasters give a nearly 70% chance of a historic event peaking between October and December. External expert Boris Worm called El Niño “the most violent aspect of climate variability worldwide.” The study stops short of formal attribution but leaves warming as the most likely culprit