Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Atmospheric Science

A boost in big El Niño

Computer models and theory do not offer a consensus on how El Niño will change under global warming. Despite this disagreement, a study indicates a robust increase in the frequency of extreme El Niño episodes.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Illustration of extreme El Niño conditions.

References

  1. Kerr, R. A. Science 283, 1108–1109 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Collins, M. et al. Nature Geosci. 3, 391–397 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Cai, W. et al. Nature Clim. Change 4, 111–116 10.1038/nclimate2100 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Xie, S.-P. et al. J. Clim. 23, 966–986 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Clement, A. C., Seager, R., Cane, M. A. & Zebiak, S. E. J. Clim. 9, 2190–2196 (1996).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. L'Heureux, M., Lee, S. & Lyon, B. Nature Clim. Change 3, 571–576 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Tokinaga, H., Xie, S.-P., Deser, C., Kosaka, Y. & Okumura, Y. M. Nature 491, 439–443 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Seager, R., Naik, N. & Vogel, L. J. Clim. 25, 3355–3372 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Huntingford, C., Jones, P. D., Livina, V. N., Lenton, T. M. & Cox, P. M. Nature 500, 327–330 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nathaniel C. Johnson.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Johnson, N. A boost in big El Niño. Nature Clim Change 4, 90–91 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2108

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2108

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing