SEOUL (Commodity Online) : Global warming is the root cause of the newly developed pacific El Nino, according to scientists in South Korea.

Scientists and researchers in Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute suggested that the new type of El Nino, termed as the "central Pacific El Nino," ,which is threatening extreme weather for many parts of the globe, could be a result of global warming.



El Nino events commonly describe the warming of waters in the eastern Pacific that occur in cycles of three to eight years.

However, recent studies have shown that the typical type of El Nino has become less frequent, and the new El Nino, in which warm sea temperatures in the central Pacific are flanked by the cooler waters of the east and west, has become more common since the late 1990s.

The traditional type of El Nino, although originating from the eastern Pacific, is known best for affecting the number of hurricanes formed in the Atlantic.

However, previous studies suggested that the new type of El Nino could have more damaging effects over a broader range of areas, as warmer waters in the central Pacific are associated with higher storm frequency.

Scientists described the changes in the ratio of the eastern Pacific El Nino and central Pacific El Nino under projected global warming scenarios, using recent data by the United Nations (UN)-backed International Climate Change Partnership (ICCP) and other climate-change prediction models.

Using calculations based on historical El Nino indexes, the researchers found that projections of climate changes are more associated with the increased frequency of the central Pacific El Nino compared to the eastern Pacific El Nino.

When restricted to climate models representing the 20th century El Nino ratios, the occurrence ratio of the central Pacific El Nino to that of the eastern Pacific is expected to increase by five times under global warming, the scientists said.

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