10. What are the recorded El Niño phenomena and which has been the most devastating?

Various researchers have agreed on a complete chronology of El Niño events based on historical elements.

Events classified as very strong or historic children are:

El Niño phenomenon of 1578

El Niño phenomenon of 1728

El Niño phenomenon of 1790-1793

El Niño phenomenon of 1828

El Niño phenomenon of 1876-1878

El Niño phenomenon of 1925-1926

El Niño phenomenon of 1982-1983

El Niño phenomenon of 1997-1998

El Niño phenomenon of 2014-2016

El Niño phenomenon of 2023-2024

Regarding the most devastating El Niño phenomenon

But according to the expert, this atmospheric oscillation has shown its most tragic side in the last 40 years: the so-called “Super El Niño”, a more intense version of the phenomenon with even more devastating consequences.

“‘Super El Niño’ are a very extreme form of ENSO in which the intensity can cause the waters of the Pacific to warm up to 3 or 4ºC more compared to the normal temperature of the ocean,” says Bin.

However, according to the expert, only three “Super El Niño” have been reported since records have been kept in the last 130 years: the first, in 1982, then in 1998, and the last, in 2015.

All after 1970.

El Niño was especially active between 1997 and 1998 and between 2015 and 2016.

However, research carried out by Bin and another group of experts and published this week in the prestigious American journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences indicates that the extreme phenomenon could become more and more frequent… and more destructive.