After a period of studying the coral reefs in the central Pacific region, Dr. Melinda Alen, a scientist from Oakland University in New Zealand, discovered a unique weather pattern in the historical climate of this ocean.
Evidence gathered from the world’s oldest coral reefs shows that weather in the Pacific often contrasts with weather in the rest of the world, particularly during the Little Ice Age and the Medieval Warm Period.
When temperatures rise in many other parts of the world, the Pacific experiences cooling, and conversely, when temperatures drop elsewhere, the Pacific becomes warmer and stormier.
This new finding aligns with archaeological research results from Pacific islands. It opens up new opportunities to study the impact of climate change on the environment and how humans respond to these changes.
