To the core of the problem: Researchers taking a coral core from a Porites coral in the western Philippines in 2005. Cores are commonly taken to measure growth rings for data on climate and other factors.
Credit: AFP
The results suggest that "greenhouse warming will lead to strengthened Asian monsoon rainfall and more persistent El Niño-like conditions during the 21st century," said Nerilie Abram, who led the research team. "This means the picture is grim for southern Australia in particular."
Australia and Indonesia could experience more frequent droughts, and East Africa and Southern India more frequent rain, as tropical weather patterns intensify, she said.
"We don't have much information on how these weather patterns change with time. Observations are limited," commented Malcolm McCulloch, an earth scientist from the ANU who was not involved in the study.
"Studies like this enable us to go back in time to get a better feeling for what happened, in order to understand the processes better, and to help make future climate models more accurate," he said.
