At a Glance

El Niños are characterized by warmer-than-average ocean temperatures in the tropical Pacific.That can greatly impact global weather patterns. Researchers say the natural weather phenomenon will become more frequent in the decades to come due to global temperature rise.

Global warming will bring more frequent and strongerEl Niños in the decades to come, contributing to more extreme weather around the world, a new study says.

Researchers with Australia'ssay the natural weather phenomenon that is characterized by warmer-than-average ocean temperatures in the tropical Pacific, will intensifythanks to global warming.

According to the study in the journal Nature, powerful El Niños will occur on average once every decaderather than once every 15 years.

The scientists used 17 different climate models to establish how seawater temperatures will increase as global warming increases due to increasing greenhouse gas emissions. The models indicatethat we can expect to see a significant change as temperatures rise.

Global since the late 1970s.2018 making the last five years the five warmest years on record.

El Niño is the warm phase of the natural climate cycle known as theEl Niño-Southern Oscillation or ENSO. La Niña is the cool phase.

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El Niños can influence climate patterns that affect regions across the globe. The study notes that strong El Niños can produce flooding in the U.S., Ecuador and northeast Peru and lead to droughts in coastal countries lying along the western Pacific Ocean, including Australia.

"El Niño typically has a larger impact on North American winters, but can also suppress the Atlantic hurricane season," said weather.com meteorologist Chris Dolce.

"Stronger El Niños have been associated with cooler and wetter winters in the South due to a stronger southern branch jet stream. Parts of the northern U.S. have typically seen warmer-than-average conditions in El Niño winters. That said, El Niño is not the sole factor in determining whether a winter will be wet, dry, cool or warm."

The warming of the Pacific during strong El Niñoscan lead to the die-off of marine life and increase coral bleaching in places like Australia'sGreat Barrier Reef.

A new 2019 El Niño forecast will be released by federal scientists from theon Thursday morning.