Pacific Ocean Corals Unveil Centennial Warming History, Hinting at Higher Sea Levels 6000 Years Ago

Researchers have used coral records from the Solomon Sea to study changes in the western boundary current in the Pacific Ocean over the past century. They found that the current had strengthened, leading to a strengthening of the Equatorial Undercurrent. The researchers suggest that a slowdown in global warming during the 1940s and 1970s may be attributed to surface waters cooling in the eastern equatorial Pacific. The study also revealed that sea surface temperature and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation have influenced the nitrogen isotopes in the corals, providing insights into the long-term warming history of the Pacific Ocean.