A fascinating scientific discovery is happening in the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu. On the island of Espiritu Santo, ancient coral reefs that contain critical climate records from over 16,000 years ago are being uplifted from the sea.
These reefs offer a unique glimpse into the ancient climate of our planet. During the last ice age, sea levels were over 100 meters lower, allowing coral reefs to grow around Vanuatu’s much taller islands. When the ice sheets melted, these reefs became submerged. But due to the tectonic forces pushing Espiritu Santo upward, sections of these ancient reefs now sit just meters below the ocean surface.
By drilling out these coral cores and analyzing the chemical signals locked within, scientists can reconstruct how the hashtag#ElNiño climate cycle behaved during past extreme cold periods. This will help answer the critical question – how will hashtag#ENSO respond to human-caused global warming in the future?
The insights from Vanuatu’s uplifted coral reefs can reduce uncertainties in climate model projections of ENSO under continued warming. Models currently disagree on whether ENSO variability and extremes will strengthen or weaken. Constraining them with real-world paleoclimate data from periods of past climate extremes is key.
As climate change intensifies weather disruptions across the globe, improving ENSO predictions with seamless climate data will allow vulnerable regions to better prepare for coming floods, droughts, storms and other threats. The Pacific islands are on the front lines of climate change and have much to gain from current research in Vanuatu.
Green Climate Fund, #PacificClimateHistory, #CoralsOfThePast
#ENSOExtremes, #EW4ALL, #DRR, #climatechangeadaptation
Bapon (SHM) Fakhruddin, PhD 