On a remote Pacific island, clues to El Ni ño’s future are preserved in ancient reefs

Related podcast A new way for the heart and brain to ‘talk’ to each other, and Earth’s future weather written in ancient coral reefs BY Sarah Crespi , Kevin McLean , Paul Voosen Vanuatu— The 500 residents of Tanovusvus do not typically worry about water. The village hugs the coast of Espiritu Santo, the largest island here in Vanuatu, a tropical archipelago in the western South Pacific Ocean. The lush foliage that surrounds it testifies to the several meters of rain it receives annually. The trucksize plastic tank that holds drinking water for the village has rarely run dry—especially during the past 3 years, when an unusually long-lived La Niña climate event brought warmth and wetness to the western Pacific. But one day in October 2023, Abel Kalo, an outreach coordinator from Vanuatu’s Meteorology & Geo-Hazards Department, arrived in Tanovusvus with a warning: The rains would be drying up. El Niño, La Niña’s opposite number, was here. Months earlier, its signature pattern had emerged: The warm ocean waters that had fueled storms over Vanuatu began to slosh east toward South America. Before inspecting the water tank, which was cracked and leaking and less than one-quarter full, Kalo told the villagers, “You have to be careful.” Speaking in Bislama, Van...
Source: Science of Aging Knowledge Environment - Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research