By applying the technique to climate records from 1979 to 2005, the team found that the majority of these links are stable over time, forming a "skeleton" to the world's climate. Yet it's the weaker links, which break and then reform, that are of more interest. Under normal climate conditions this happens only occasionally, but disturbances from an El Niño event cause the links to "blink" on and off every few weeks.
The location of the blinking links reveal where the El Niño is having an influence, he says.

All that remains to be seen is if governments trust and use the data... and then if the people trust the government when they tell them to get out of Dodge

El Niño sounds like a gang of dangerous children. Where will they strike next?!