We are a group of scientists, spanning several continents and fields of study, dedicated to
​understanding marine heatwaves: their physical drivers, climatological properties, and ecological impacts.

Marine heatwave news

DRIVERS, MECHANISMS AND IMPACTS OF THE 2017/18 NEW ZEALAND heatwave 

9 May 2019
A recent paper examines the summer 2017/18 ocean and atmospheric heatwave that occurred in the New Zealand region, and documents its drivers, mechanisms and diverse impacts.

Marine Heatwaves threaten biodiversity and the provision of  ecosystem services

5 march 2019
A paper published this week from our research team demonstrates the global impact of marine heatwaves on ecosystems, including biodiversity and the provision of ecosystem services. Media coverage includes The Guardian, The New York Times and National Geographic.

Ocean heat waves like the Pacific’s deadly ‘Blob’ could become the new normal

6 Feb 2019
A good review of 'the Blob', it's impacts, and the history and current state of marine heatwave research. You can read it on sciencemag.org here.

RETURN OF THE BLOB?

11 November 2018
Record warming has returned to the North Pacific recently. This time there is similarity but also difference past events there, including some interesting subsurface signals. Is this the "Return of the Blob", or something else? A news story with details available here.

Marine Heatwaves webinar

24 October 2018
A recent webinar on 'Marine Heatwaves - trends, impacts attribution, and software' was delivered by Alistair Hobday and Eric Oliver. The webinar was virtually well-attended, with nearly 100 listeners logging in from around the world. A video of the webinar is available online.

Lingering effects of the NE pacific BLOB in coastal waters

26 September 2018
Recent publication by Jen Jackson et al in GRL reports that warm waters have persisted in coastal waters after the 2013- 2015 marine heatwave, nicknamed The Blob, and the 2015-2016 El Niño. Surface satellite data have shown that the warm water was gone by 2016. Using temperature data collected by ship and ARGO floats, they showed that abnormally warm water continues to exist in the open ocean below the surface, at about 140‐m depth. In the coastal ocean,deep waters in Rivers Inlet are still 0.3° to 0.6 °C warmer than normal, at least 4 years after The Blob was first observed. This warm water could have a big impact on the Rivers Inlet ecosystem. See the article.

Heatwave changes fish community and hence coral recovery

14 August 2018
New study published in the journal Nature reports on an extensive survey of the Great Barrier Reef before and after a marine heatwave in 2016. The rise in ocean temperatures in 2016 led to a fall in populations of parrotfish, which keep corals healthy and help them recover from bleaching events by eating harmful algae.
Popular article in the OceanDeeply

HEATWAVE TAKES TOLL ON
​CHINESE SEA CUCUMBERS

7 August 2018
A heatwave has taken a toll on sea cucumber farms in China, with rising water temperatures killing off many in the past two weeks. In Liaoning province, most sea cucumbers being raised in shallow ponds with depths < 7 m have died since a heatwave began on July 23. High temperatures made the water too hot for them to tolerate. Source.

New Record Water Temperature

2 August 2018
Highest-Ever Seawater Temperature Recorded at Scripps Pier
Sea-surface reading of 25.9℃ (78.6 ℉) highest in 102 years of measurements. See full article here.

A categorisation system
​for marine heatwaves

5 June 2018
A recent article in Oceanography proposes a system for the categorisation of marine heatwaves. Four categories are proposed - moderate, strong, severe, extreme - which are based on the intensity, or temperature anomaly of the event. The article also discusses potential naming conventions for marine heatwave events, much like for tropical cyclones or bushfires.

​Marine heatwaves are getting hotter, lasting longer and doing more damage

31 May 2018
A recent article in The Conversation discusses marine heatwaves and global changes and impacts.

On land, heatwaves can be deadly for humans and wildlife and can devastate crops and forests. Unusually warm periods can also occur in the ocean. These can last for weeks or months, killing off kelp forests and corals, and producing other significant impacts on marine ecosystems, fishing and aquaculture industries. Yet until recently, the formation, distribution and frequency of marine heatwaves had received little research attention.

GLOBAL MHW TRENDS

11 April 2018
Global increase in the frequency and duration of MHWs.

Our latest study showed that from 1925 to 2016, global average marine heatwave frequency and duration increased by 34% and 17%, respectively, resulting in a 54% increase in annual marine heatwave days globally.

https://www.carbonbrief.org/marine-heatwaves-have-become-34-more-likely-over-past-century

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/marine-heat-wave-ocean-hot-spot-study-1.4611794

MASS SEABIRD MORTALITY IN mhwS

March 2018
The Pacific Blob of 2015/16 resulted in very high mortality of Cassins auklet. This study combined multi-trophic level information to attribute causes of mortality across a coastal gradient.

Jones, T., J. K. Parrish, W. T. Peterson, E. P. Bjorkstedt, N. A. Bond and L. T. Ballance (2018). Massive mortality of a planktivorous seabird in response to a marine heatwave. Geophysical Research Letters 45: https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL076164.

Eastern Tasmania MHWs

20 Feb 2018
Marine heatwaves off eastern Tasmania increasing in frequency and penetration depth since 1993. The East Australian Current is the dominant driver of marine heatwave variability. A recent study published in Progress in Oceanography.

HOTTEST JANUARY in NZ

27 March 2018
An update on the Tasman Sea heatwave that affected New Zealand. A joint special report issued by the BOM (Australia) and NIWA (NZ) describes the marine and atmospheric elements.


1 Feb 2018
New Zealand recorded it's hottest January on record in 2018, and a Tasman Sea marine heatwave had a large part to play.

Human Emissions Made Ocean HeatWave 53 Times More Likely

16 Jan 2018
Three 2016 marine heat waves that killed whales, birds, corals, and shellfish from Australia to Alaska were many times more likely thanks to climate change. A story on our work, by National Geographic.

Southern tasmania

Nov 2017
A MHW is currently present south of Tasmania. Here is a piece that describes it from satellite and argo observations.

Global view

November 2018.
This area to the south of Tasmania is one of the warmest in the world at present
​
http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDYOC054.shtml

Northern Australia & Bering Sea / Gulf of Alaska

Dec 2017
Two major marine heatwaves of 2016 were many times more likely due to anthropogenic climate change, reported in the Explaining Extremes of 2016 supplement to the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.