Skip to main content
Log in

Marine heatwaves are occurring globally below the sea surface with increasing frequency

  • Research Briefing
  • Published:

From Nature Geoscience

View current issue Submit your manuscript

Analysis of sea temperatures using a four-dimensional spatio-temporal framework has revealed a great number of marine heatwaves occurring globally below the sea surface. These extreme events, which threaten the ecologically important epipelagic zone, have occurred increasingly frequently during the past three decades owing to ocean warming.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1: Geographic distribution of surface, subsurface and mixed marine heatwaves (MHWs).

References

  1. Smale, D. A. et al. Marine heatwaves threaten global biodiversity and the provision of ecosystem services. Nat. Clim. Change 9, 306–312 (2019). This paper reports on the threat of MHWs to global biodiversity.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Wernberg, T. et al. An extreme climatic event alters marine ecosystem structure in a global biodiversity hotspot. Nat. Clim. Change 3, 78–82 (2013). This paper reports altered ecosystem structure and function as a result of extreme climatic events.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Oliver, E. C. J. et al. Longer and more frequent marine heatwaves over the past century. Nat. Commun. 9, 1324 (2018). This paper reports more frequent and longer MHWs over the past half century.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Hobday, A. J. et al. A hierarchical approach to defining marine heatwaves. Prog. Oceanogr. 141, 227–238 (2016). This paper introduces the pointwise MHW definition based on sea surface temperature time series.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Cheng, L. et al. Improved estimates of ocean heat content from 1960 to 2015. Sci. Adv. 3, e1601545 (2017). This paper reports estimates of ocean warming over the past half century, concurrent with increased greenhouse gas emissions.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This is a summary of: Sun, D. et al. Frequent marine heatwaves hidden below the surface of the global ocean. Nat. Geosci. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01325-w (2023).

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Marine heatwaves are occurring globally below the sea surface with increasing frequency. Nat. Geosci. 16, 1082–1083 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01339-4

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01339-4

  • Springer Nature Limited

Navigation