Maria J. Molina

Imagine an orchestra playing without a conductor. Each section takes its turn: first the winds introduce the theme, then the strings join in, and sometimes an unexpected percussionist solos.

The ocean hums like a crowded hall: in one corner, voices argue about decades; in another, about years; in a third, about the changing seasons. To pick apart these voices, climatologists used to rely on filters they tuned themselves, letting through only slow waves or only fast ones. But the Pacific plays by its own rules: a warm patch off the coast of Peru can be a brief spike or part of a long-term rearrangement.