Earth's orbital asymmetries share recurring rhythms with El Niño, study finds

Every few years, an unusual warming of surface waters across the central and eastern tropical Pacific—known as El Niño—reorganizes atmospheric circulation worldwide, bringing severe droughts to some continents and torrential rainfall to others. For decades, oceanographers and meteorologists have mapped the intricate internal machinery behind the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), from shifting trade winds to subsurface ocean waves.