Researchers studying coral skeletons from the Galápagos Islands have discovered that El Niño events — a climate phenomenon characterized by warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific — have grown significantly stronger in recent decades. Their findings suggest that El Niño has become nearly 40% more intense since the preindustrial era, challenging earlier beliefs that the phenomenon followed a predictable and stable pattern. To understand long-term changes in El Niño, scientists analyzed the chemical composition of coral skeletons. Corals absorb elements from seawater as they grow, creating a natural record of ocean conditions over centuries. This analysis revealed that sea surface temperature fluctuations in the equatorial Pacific have increased more than previously thought, based on older climate records. Notably, the Galápagos region has experienced a marked recent intensification of El Niño, while the central Pacific has seen a more moderate increase in variability. This geographic contrast suggests that global warming affects different parts of the Pacific basin in varying ways. Some areas act as "amplifiers," intensifying climate changes more than others, while some regions appear more resistant to these effects. However, the observed increase in El Niño strength is greater than what most climate models have been able to simulate, highlighting a gap between current predictions and real-world observations. This discrepancy is partly due to the limited availability of long-term climate data, making coral records an essential resource for understanding past climate dynamics. A stronger El Niño can have far-reaching impacts beyond the Pacific, influencing weather patterns worldwide. It can lead to droughts in some regions, heavy rainfall in others, and increase the likelihood of heatwaves and extreme weather events. These changes can affect agriculture, ecosystems, and human infrastructure. The study underscores the importance of using natural archives like coral to improve climate models and better prepare for future changes.