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[[File:marine_heatwaves2.jpg|thumb|500px|Marine heatwaves (Source: IUCN<ref>Retrieved from https://iucn.org/resources/issues-brief/marine-heatwaves on October 24, 2024. </ref>)]]
== Overview ==
== Overview ==
Marine heatwaves (MHWs) are periods of extreme warm ocean temperature that persist for days to months, extend over thousands of kilometers, and penetrate multiple hundreds of meters into the deep ocean<ref name=":0">Collins M., M. Sutherland, L. Bouwer, S.-M. Cheong, T. Frölicher, H. Jacot Des Combes, M. Koll Roxy, I. Losada, K. McInnes, B. Ratter, E. Rivera-Arriaga, R.D. Susanto, D. Swingedouw, and L. Tibig, 2019: Extremes, Abrupt Changes and Managing Risk. In: ''IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate'' [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, V. Masson-Delmotte, P. Zhai, M. Tignor, E. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, A. Alegría, M. Nicolai, A. Okem, J. Petzold, B. Rama, N.M. Weyer (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA, pp. 589-655. <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009157964.008</nowiki>.</ref>. Over the past two decades, MHWs have adversely affected marine organisms and ecosystems in all ocean basins, including critical foundation species like corals, seagrasses, and kelp. These events have led to widespread coral bleaching and mortality, loss of seagrass and kelp forests, shifts in species ranges, and the local—and potentially global—extinctions of coral species<ref name=":0" />. MHWs have also been associated with mass mortality events among marine invertebrates and can force species to alter their behavior, increasing their vulnerability to harm. For instance, MHWs have been linked to a rise in whale entanglements in fishing gear. Additionally, the changing ocean conditions can facilitate the spread of invasive alien species, which can have devastating effects on marine foodwebs<ref>https://iucn.org/resources/issues-brief/marine-heatwaves</ref>. A notable example is the MHW that developed in the northeast Pacific in 2014, which disrupted the entire foodweb and led to mass die-offs of seabirds and marine mammals<ref name=":1" />. For more information on the impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity, please visit the [[Biodiversity Loss]] page on the CRL wiki. 
Marine heatwaves (MHWs) are periods of extreme warm ocean temperature that persist for days to months, extend over thousands of kilometers, and penetrate multiple hundreds of meters into the deep ocean<ref name=":0">Collins M., M. Sutherland, L. Bouwer, S.-M. Cheong, T. Frölicher, H. Jacot Des Combes, M. Koll Roxy, I. Losada, K. McInnes, B. Ratter, E. Rivera-Arriaga, R.D. Susanto, D. Swingedouw, and L. Tibig, 2019: Extremes, Abrupt Changes and Managing Risk. In: ''IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate'' [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, V. Masson-Delmotte, P. Zhai, M. Tignor, E. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, A. Alegría, M. Nicolai, A. Okem, J. Petzold, B. Rama, N.M. Weyer (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA, pp. 589-655. <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009157964.008</nowiki>.</ref>. These extreme high temperatures can cause billions of dollars' economic losses by negatively impacting the critical ocean ecosystems (Figure 1).
 
Over the past three decades, MHWs have adversely affected marine organisms and ecosystems in all ocean basins, including critical foundation species like corals, seagrasses, and kelp. They have led to widespread coral bleaching and mortality, dieback of kelp forests and seagrasses, and harmful algal blooms<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />. The disruption of these foundation species destabilizes food webs, leading to significant consequences for fisheries, aquaculture, and tourism industries that depend on them. For example, the prolonged MHW over the northeast Pacific in 2014 severely disrupted the food web, resulting in mass mortalities of California sea lions, seals, seabirds, and marine invertebrates (Smith et al. 2021)<ref name=":1" />. The associated harmful algal blooms led to the closure of recreational razor clamming, causing a $40 million loss in tourist spending in Washington State. Similarly, the closure of commercial Dungeness crab fishing on the West Coast resulted in a total loss of $97.5 million. Additionally, the population decline of red sea urchins due to kelp loss led to the closure of their commercial fishery, resulting in an annual loss of $3 million<ref name=":1" />.  
[[File:Screenshot 2024-09-03 at 1.20.52 PM.png|thumb|center|700px|Figure 1 Impact and economic loss of marine heatwaves]]


MHWs also have significant socio-economic impacts, leading to substantial economic losses in sectors such as tourism, fisheries, and aquaculture (Figure 1). These events have been shown to reduce the productivity or cause mortality of economically important species, such as lobster and snow crab in the northwest Atlantic and scallops off Western Australia<ref>https://www.marineheatwaves.org/mhw-impacts.html</ref>.   
MHWs have also been shown to reduce the productivity or cause mortality of economically important species, such as lobster and snow crab in the northwest Atlantic and scallops off Western Australia<ref>https://www.marineheatwaves.org/mhw-impacts.html</ref>. For more information on the impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity, please visit the [[Biodiversity Loss]] page on the CRL wiki.   


Marine heatwaves have become an urgent climate risk due to their increasing frequency, duration, intensity, and spatial extent. The number of MHW days doubled between 1982 and 2016<ref>[https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0383-9 Frölicher, T.L., Fischer, E.M. & Gruber, N. Marine heatwaves under global warming. ''Nature'' 560, 360–364 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0383-9]</ref>, with these events becoming more prolonged, intense, and widespread—8 of the 10 most severe recorded MHWs have occurred in the past decade<ref name=":1">[https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abj3593#editor-abstract Smith, Kathryn E., et al. "Socioeconomic impacts of marine heatwaves: Global issues and opportunities." ''Science'' 374.6566 (2021): eabj3593.]</ref>. Projections indicate that MHWs will continue to intensify with global warming. Climate models suggest that by 2081-2100, the frequency of MHWs could increase by approximately 50 times under the high-emission scenario (RCP8.5) and 20 times under the low-emission scenario (RCP2.6) relative to 1850–1900. The intensity of MHWs is projected to increase about tenfold under RCP8.5 by 2081–2100 compared to the 1850–1900 baseline<ref name=":0" />.       
Marine heatwaves have become an urgent climate risk due to their increasing frequency, duration, intensity, and spatial extent. The number of MHW days doubled between 1982 and 2016<ref>[https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0383-9 Frölicher, T.L., Fischer, E.M. & Gruber, N. Marine heatwaves under global warming. ''Nature'' 560, 360–364 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0383-9]</ref>, with these events becoming more prolonged, intense, and widespread—8 of the 10 most severe recorded MHWs have occurred in the past decade<ref name=":1">[https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abj3593#editor-abstract Smith, Kathryn E., et al. "Socioeconomic impacts of marine heatwaves: Global issues and opportunities." ''Science'' 374.6566 (2021): eabj3593.]</ref>. Projections indicate that MHWs will continue to intensify with global warming. Climate models suggest that by 2081-2100, the frequency of MHWs could increase by approximately 50 times under the high-emission scenario (RCP8.5) and 20 times under the low-emission scenario (RCP2.6) relative to 1850–1900. The intensity of MHWs is projected to increase about tenfold under RCP8.5 by 2081–2100 compared to the 1850–1900 baseline<ref name=":0" />.       
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* [https://psl.noaa.gov/data/gridded/data.noaa.ersst.v5.html NOAA ERSST V5] from 1865, a gridded (2.0 degree) consistently analyzed monthly global sea surface temperature dataset from NOAA that continues to present.
* [https://psl.noaa.gov/data/gridded/data.noaa.ersst.v5.html NOAA ERSST V5] from 1865, a gridded (2.0 degree) consistently analyzed monthly global sea surface temperature dataset from NOAA that continues to present.
* [https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.nodc:AOML-GDP-1hr NOAA - hourly position, current, and sea surface temperature] from drifters from 1987 (AWS data access [https://registry.opendata.aws/noaa-oar-hourly-gdp/ here]).


=== Current observations: ===
=== Current observations ===


* [https://www.marineheatwaves.org/tracker.html Marine heatwave tracker] by Marine Heatwave International Working Group
* [https://www.marineheatwaves.org/tracker.html Marine heatwave tracker] by Marine Heatwave International Working Group
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* [https://oceanview.pfeg.noaa.gov/projects/mhw/videos Animations] of yearly sea surface temperature anoamlies
* [https://oceanview.pfeg.noaa.gov/projects/mhw/videos Animations] of yearly sea surface temperature anoamlies


=== Forecasts: ===
=== Forecasts ===


* [https://psl.noaa.gov/marine-heatwaves/# Forecasts up to 11.5 months ahead] by Jacox et al. (2002)<ref>Jacox, M.G., Alexander, M.A., Amaya, D. ''et al.'' Global seasonal forecasts of marine heatwaves. ''Nature'' 604, 486–490 (2022). <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04573-9</nowiki></ref>  
* [https://psl.noaa.gov/marine-heatwaves/# Forecasts up to 11.5 months ahead] by Jacox et al. (2002)<ref>Jacox, M.G., Alexander, M.A., Amaya, D. ''et al.'' Global seasonal forecasts of marine heatwaves. ''Nature'' 604, 486–490 (2022). <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04573-9</nowiki></ref>  


== References ==
== References ==

Latest revision as of 19:44, 24 October 2024

Marine heatwaves (Source: IUCN[1])

Overview

Marine heatwaves (MHWs) are periods of extreme warm ocean temperature that persist for days to months, extend over thousands of kilometers, and penetrate multiple hundreds of meters into the deep ocean[2]. These extreme high temperatures can cause billions of dollars' economic losses by negatively impacting the critical ocean ecosystems (Figure 1).

Over the past three decades, MHWs have adversely affected marine organisms and ecosystems in all ocean basins, including critical foundation species like corals, seagrasses, and kelp. They have led to widespread coral bleaching and mortality, dieback of kelp forests and seagrasses, and harmful algal blooms[2][3]. The disruption of these foundation species destabilizes food webs, leading to significant consequences for fisheries, aquaculture, and tourism industries that depend on them. For example, the prolonged MHW over the northeast Pacific in 2014 severely disrupted the food web, resulting in mass mortalities of California sea lions, seals, seabirds, and marine invertebrates (Smith et al. 2021)[3]. The associated harmful algal blooms led to the closure of recreational razor clamming, causing a $40 million loss in tourist spending in Washington State. Similarly, the closure of commercial Dungeness crab fishing on the West Coast resulted in a total loss of $97.5 million. Additionally, the population decline of red sea urchins due to kelp loss led to the closure of their commercial fishery, resulting in an annual loss of $3 million[3].

Figure 1 Impact and economic loss of marine heatwaves

MHWs have also been shown to reduce the productivity or cause mortality of economically important species, such as lobster and snow crab in the northwest Atlantic and scallops off Western Australia[4]. For more information on the impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity, please visit the Biodiversity Loss page on the CRL wiki.

Marine heatwaves have become an urgent climate risk due to their increasing frequency, duration, intensity, and spatial extent. The number of MHW days doubled between 1982 and 2016[5], with these events becoming more prolonged, intense, and widespread—8 of the 10 most severe recorded MHWs have occurred in the past decade[3]. Projections indicate that MHWs will continue to intensify with global warming. Climate models suggest that by 2081-2100, the frequency of MHWs could increase by approximately 50 times under the high-emission scenario (RCP8.5) and 20 times under the low-emission scenario (RCP2.6) relative to 1850–1900. The intensity of MHWs is projected to increase about tenfold under RCP8.5 by 2081–2100 compared to the 1850–1900 baseline[2].

Data

How to measure marine heatwaves

Hobday et al. (2016)[6] developed a widely adopted definition of marine heatwaves (MHWs). According to this definition, an MHW is a period during which seawater temperatures exceed a seasonally varying threshold (typically the 90th percentile) for at least five consecutive days. Successive events with gaps of two days or less are considered part of the same MHW. Here are links to code implementations of the MHW definition by Hobday et al. (2016) in Python and R.

As a general guideline, an anomaly of 1 degree Celsius (roughly 2 degrees Fahrenheit) off the coast of California can indicate a marine heatwave, while anomalies of 2-3 degrees Celsius (approximately 4-6 degrees Fahrenheit) are indicative of more extreme marine heatwave events[7].

Relevant datasets to calculate marine heatwaves

  • NOAA OI SST from 1982, a gridded high-resolution (0.25 degree) daily global sea surface temperature dataset from NOAA that continues to present.

Current observations

Past California current marine heatwave events

  • Detailed information (i.e., size, duration, distance from shore) of past marine heatwave events
  • Animations of yearly sea surface temperature anoamlies

Forecasts

References

  1. ↑ Retrieved from https://iucn.org/resources/issues-brief/marine-heatwaves on October 24, 2024.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Collins M., M. Sutherland, L. Bouwer, S.-M. Cheong, T. Frölicher, H. Jacot Des Combes, M. Koll Roxy, I. Losada, K. McInnes, B. Ratter, E. Rivera-Arriaga, R.D. Susanto, D. Swingedouw, and L. Tibig, 2019: Extremes, Abrupt Changes and Managing Risk. In: IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, V. Masson-Delmotte, P. Zhai, M. Tignor, E. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, A. Alegría, M. Nicolai, A. Okem, J. Petzold, B. Rama, N.M. Weyer (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA, pp. 589-655. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009157964.008.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Smith, Kathryn E., et al. "Socioeconomic impacts of marine heatwaves: Global issues and opportunities." Science 374.6566 (2021): eabj3593.
  4. ↑ https://www.marineheatwaves.org/mhw-impacts.html
  5. ↑ Frölicher, T.L., Fischer, E.M. & Gruber, N. Marine heatwaves under global warming. Nature 560, 360–364 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0383-9
  6. ↑ Hobday, Alistair J., Lisa V. Alexander, Sarah E. Perkins, Dan A. Smale, Sandra C. Straub, Eric CJ Oliver, Jessica A. Benthuysen et al. "A hierarchical approach to defining marine heatwaves." Progress in oceanography 141 (2016): 227-238.
  7. ↑ https://scripps.ucsd.edu/research/climate-change-resources/californias-marine-heatwaves
  8. ↑ Jacox, M.G., Alexander, M.A., Amaya, D. et al. Global seasonal forecasts of marine heatwaves. Nature 604, 486–490 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04573-9
Retrieved from "http://climateriskwiki.uw.edu/index.php?title=Marine_Heatwaves&oldid=1703"