A single coral in Fiji that is more than 600 years old has recorded how Pacific Ocean temperatures have varied during its long life.
Scientists know the Pacific has generally been getting warmer over the centuries, with marine heatwaves and widespread coral bleaching in recent years due to anthropogenic climate change. But there are thought to have been cooler and warmer years – and even decades – along the way. Of course, it’s hard to know much about this variability, since there are very few continuous records that stretch back hundreds of years.
