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¡¡¡¡An image taken of the Pacific Ocean last September is astonishing. Made by using data collected from satellites monitored by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, the picture shows the surface level of the Pacific as clearly as a yardstick lying across a lumpy bed. One sample of water—with a volume 30 times that of all the Great Lakes—is white, indicating that it is as 13 inches higher than its normal level.

¡¡¡¡El Nino experts are still striving to tackle the really big question: What is causing the abnormal El Nino behavior of the past two decades? Some see the hand of global warming, accelerating the pace of El Nino formation and reinforcing each event. Supporters of globalª²warmingª²asª²El Ninoª²instigator include Kevin Trenberth, a climate analyst of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, “There’s evidence that global warming didn’t have much impact until 1979, but now it’s beginning to break through,” he says.