Corals reveal sharp rise in extreme El Niño events

Scientists are turning to an unlikely source to understand a growing climate concern: coral reefs. Records show El Niño events — periodic warming of the Pacific Ocean that disrupts weather worldwide — have been frequent and often extreme in recent decades. This raises two urgent questions. Is this pattern natural? Or is climate change driving it? Corals may hold the answer. Their skeletons preserve a chemical record of ocean conditions, offering a clear window into past El Niño activity. By reading these natural archives, researchers hope to determine whether today's intense El Niño events are truly unusual — or a warning of what is to come.