Longer and more frequent marine heatwaves over the past century

Eric C. J. Oliver (), Markus G. Donat, Michael T. Burrows, Pippa J. Moore, Dan A. Smale, Lisa V. Alexander, Jessica A. Benthuysen, Ming Feng, Alex Sen Gupta, Alistair J. Hobday, Neil J. Holbrook, Sarah E. Perkins-Kirkpatrick, Hillary A. Scannell, Sandra C. Straub and Thomas Wernberg
Additional contact information
Eric C. J. Oliver: Dalhousie University
Markus G. Donat: University of New South Wales
Michael T. Burrows: Scottish Marine Institute
Pippa J. Moore: Aberystwyth University
Dan A. Smale: The Laboratory, Citadel Hill
Lisa V. Alexander: University of New South Wales
Jessica A. Benthuysen: Australian Institute of Marine Science
Ming Feng: CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere
Alex Sen Gupta: University of New South Wales
Alistair J. Hobday: CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere
Neil J. Holbrook: University of Tasmania
Sarah E. Perkins-Kirkpatrick: University of New South Wales
Hillary A. Scannell: University of Washington
Sandra C. Straub: The University of Western Australia
Thomas Wernberg: The University of Western Australia

Nature Communications, 2018, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract Heatwaves are important climatic extremes in atmospheric and oceanic systems that can have devastating and long-term impacts on ecosystems, with subsequent socioeconomic consequences. Recent prominent marine heatwaves have attracted considerable scientific and public interest. Despite this, a comprehensive assessment of how these ocean temperature extremes have been changing globally is missing. Using a range of ocean temperature data including global records of daily satellite observations, daily in situ measurements and gridded monthly in situ-based data sets, we identify significant increases in marine heatwaves over the past century. We find 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. Importantly, these trends can largely be explained by increases in mean ocean temperatures, suggesting that we can expect further increases in marine heatwave days under continued global warming.

Date: 2018
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:9:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-018-03732-9

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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-03732-9

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