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Drivers and impacts of the most extreme marine heatwaves events

Lookup NU author(s): Professor Pip MooreORCiD

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).


Abstract

© 2020, The Author(s). Prolonged high-temperature extreme events in the ocean, marine heatwaves, can have severe and long-lasting impacts on marine ecosystems, fisheries and associated services. This study applies a marine heatwave framework to analyse a global sea surface temperature product and identify the most extreme events, based on their intensity, duration and spatial extent. Many of these events have yet to be described in terms of their physical attributes, generation mechanisms, or ecological impacts. Our synthesis identifies commonalities between marine heatwave characteristics and seasonality, links to the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, triggering processes and impacts on ocean productivity. The most intense events preferentially occur in summer, when climatological oceanic mixed layers are shallow and winds are weak, but at a time preceding climatological maximum sea surface temperatures. Most subtropical extreme marine heatwaves were triggered by persistent atmospheric high-pressure systems and anomalously weak wind speeds, associated with increased insolation, and reduced ocean heat losses. Furthermore, the most extreme events tended to coincide with reduced chlorophyll-a concentration at low and mid-latitudes. Understanding the importance of the oceanic background state, local and remote drivers and the ocean productivity response from past events are critical steps toward improving predictions of future marine heatwaves and their impacts.


Publication metadata

Author(s): Sen Gupta A, Thomsen M, Benthuysen JA, Hobday AJ, Oliver E, Alexander LV, Burrows MT, Donat MG, Feng M, Holbrook NJ, Perkins-Kirkpatrick S, Moore PJ, Rodrigues RR, Scannell HA, Taschetto AS, Ummenhofer CC, Wernberg T, Smale DA

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Scientific Reports

Year: 2020

Volume: 10

Issue: 1

Online publication date: 09/11/2020

Acceptance date: 13/10/2020

Date deposited: 09/12/2020

ISSN (electronic): 2045-2322

Publisher: Nature Research

URL: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-75445-3

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-75445-3

PubMed id: 33168858


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Funding

Funder referenceFunder name
NE/J024082/1
NE/N00678X/1
PCIG10-GA-2011–303685

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