Tropical Pacific forcing of decadal SST variability in the western Indian Ocean over the past two centuries

A 194-year annual record of skeletal delta(18)O from a coral growing at Mal indi, Kenya, preserves a history of sea surface temperature (SST) change th at is coherent with instrumental and proxy records of tropical Pacific clim ate variability over interannual to decadal periods. This variability is su perimposed on a warming of as much as 1.3 degrees C since the early 1800s. These results suggest that the tropical Pacific imparts substantial decadal climate variability to the western Indian Ocean and, by implication, may f orce decadal variability in other regions with strong El Nino-Southern Osci llation teleconnections.