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A global assessment of marine heatwaves and their drivers

Author

Listed:
  • Neil J. Holbrook

    (University of Tasmania
    University of Tasmania)

  • Hillary A. Scannell

    (University of Washington)

  • Alexander Gupta

    (The University of New South Wales
    The University of New South Wales)

  • Jessica A. Benthuysen

    (Australian Institute of Marine Science)

  • Ming Feng

    (Indian Ocean Marine Research Centre)

  • Eric C. J. Oliver

    (University of Tasmania
    University of Tasmania
    Dalhousie University)

  • Lisa V. Alexander

    (The University of New South Wales
    The University of New South Wales)

  • Michael T. Burrows

    (Scottish Marine Institute)

  • Markus G. Donat

    (The University of New South Wales
    Barcelona Supercomputing Center)

  • Alistair J. Hobday

    (CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere)

  • Pippa J. Moore

    (Aberystwyth University)

  • Sarah E. Perkins-Kirkpatrick

    (The University of New South Wales
    The University of New South Wales)

  • Dan A. Smale

    (The Laboratory, Citadel Hill
    The University of Western Australia)

  • Sandra C. Straub

    (The University of Western Australia)

  • Thomas Wernberg

    (The University of Western Australia)

Abstract

Marine heatwaves (MHWs) can cause devastating impacts to marine life. Despite the serious consequences of MHWs, our understanding of their drivers is largely based on isolated case studies rather than any systematic unifying assessment. Here we provide the first global assessment under a consistent framework by combining a confidence assessment of the historical refereed literature from 1950 to February 2016, together with the analysis of MHWs determined from daily satellite sea surface temperatures from 1982–2016, to identify the important local processes, large-scale climate modes and teleconnections that are associated with MHWs regionally. Clear patterns emerge, including coherent relationships between enhanced or suppressed MHW occurrences with the dominant climate modes across most regions of the globe – an important exception being western boundary current regions where reports of MHW events are few and ocean-climate relationships are complex. These results provide a global baseline for future MHW process and prediction studies.

Suggested Citation

  • Neil J. Holbrook & Hillary A. Scannell & Alexander Gupta & Jessica A. Benthuysen & Ming Feng & Eric C. J. Oliver & Lisa V. Alexander & Michael T. Burrows & Markus G. Donat & Alistair J. Hobday & Pippa, 2019. "A global assessment of marine heatwaves and their drivers," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 10(1), pages 1-13, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:10:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-019-10206-z
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-10206-z
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Friedrich A. Burger & Jens Terhaar & Thomas L. Frölicher, 2022. "Compound marine heatwaves and ocean acidity extremes," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.
    2. Patricia M. Clay & Jennifer Howard & D. Shallin Busch & Lisa L. Colburn & Amber Himes-Cornell & Steven S. Rumrill & Stephani G. Zador & Roger B. Griffis, 2020. "Ocean and coastal indicators: understanding and coping with climate change at the land-sea interface," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 163(4), pages 1773-1793, December.
    3. Heather Welch & Matthew S. Savoca & Stephanie Brodie & Michael G. Jacox & Barbara A. Muhling & Thomas A. Clay & Megan A. Cimino & Scott R. Benson & Barbara A. Block & Melinda G. Conners & Daniel P. Co, 2023. "Impacts of marine heatwaves on top predator distributions are variable but predictable," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
    4. Christopher C. Chapman & Didier P. Monselesan & James S. Risbey & Ming Feng & Bernadette M. Sloyan, 2022. "A large-scale view of marine heatwaves revealed by archetype analysis," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-16, December.
    5. Alex S. J. Wyatt & James J. Leichter & Libe Washburn & Li Kui & Peter J. Edmunds & Scott C. Burgess, 2023. "Hidden heatwaves and severe coral bleaching linked to mesoscale eddies and thermocline dynamics," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-17, December.
    6. Ce Bian & Zhao Jing & Hong Wang & Lixin Wu & Zhaohui Chen & Bolan Gan & Haiyuan Yang, 2023. "Oceanic mesoscale eddies as crucial drivers of global marine heatwaves," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    7. Ying Zhang & Yan Du & Ming Feng & Alistair J. Hobday, 2023. "Vertical structures of marine heatwaves," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.
    8. Jian Shi & Hao Huang & Alexey V. Fedorov & Neil J. Holbrook & Yu Zhang & Ruiqiang Ding & Yongyue Luo & Shengpeng Wang & Jiajie Chen & Xi Hu & Qinyu Liu & Fei Huang & Xiaopei Lin, 2024. "Northeast Pacific warm blobs sustained via extratropical atmospheric teleconnections," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, December.
    9. Dillon J. Amaya & Michael G. Jacox & Michael A. Alexander & James D. Scott & Clara Deser & Antonietta Capotondi & Adam S. Phillips, 2023. "Bottom marine heatwaves along the continental shelves of North America," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-15, December.
    10. Changyu Li & Jianping Huang & Xiaoyue Liu & Lei Ding & Yongli He & Yongkun Xie, 2024. "The ocean losing its breath under the heatwaves," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.
    11. Alexandre Mignot & Karina Schuckmann & Peter Landschützer & Florent Gasparin & Simon Gennip & Coralie Perruche & Julien Lamouroux & Tristan Amm, 2022. "Decrease in air-sea CO2 fluxes caused by persistent marine heatwaves," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.
    12. Kathryn E. Smith & Margot Aubin & Michael T. Burrows & Karen Filbee-Dexter & Alistair J. Hobday & Neil J. Holbrook & Nathan G. King & Pippa J. Moore & Alex Sen Gupta & Mads Thomsen & Thomas Wernberg &, 2024. "Global impacts of marine heatwaves on coastal foundation species," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, December.

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