Blind Search for El Niño Precursors
A blindfolded sapper searches for a mine by tossing pebbles at random. He cannot see the map or calculate where the charge is buried. But if he throws enough pebbles and listens for which one lands with a duller thud, he can pinpoint the danger. That is roughly how a new method for predicting El Niño works: the warm current that every few years alters weather across the entire planet.