“…The SST time series (Fig. 7a, dark bars) displays large positive and negative fluctuations in El Niñ o (e.g., 1957, 1965, 1972, 1983, 1993, and 1997) and La Niñ a (e.g., 1950, 1955, 1964, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1988, and 1999 years, respectively. A trend toward warmer SSTs starting in the late 1970s is also discernible, as reported by Trenberth and Hurrell (1994).…”