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Published online 12 July 2002 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news020708-19

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Ice ages looked like El Niño

Climatologists find familiar fluctuations in Pacific's past - test.

During past ice ages, the tropical Pacific Ocean behaved rather as it does today in an El Niño event, bringing downpours to some places and drought to others, say US researchers. The link might help us to understand and predict how and why the Earth's climate can change rapidly.

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