Just spotted this posted on New Scientist today about the Pacific warming and its impact on climate:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn20509-pacific-shouldnt-amplify-climate-change.html

You and I posted about this article at virtually the same time.

How convenient, I'm writing about ENSO and it's connection with the Amazon. Have to check whether those papers are amongst my collection. Thanks.

Asymmetric warming of the tropical east and west Pacific is still going to have dramatic impacts in some regions, such as South America, regardless of whether a permanent El-Nino takes hold or not. And there's already evidence it has been changing over the last few decades too.