Marine heat waves' hidden depths revealed in study

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As the ocean warms under climate change, a better understanding of how damaging marine heat waves develop and last may help scientists predict them more accurately and forecast their impacts on marine ecosystems.

In a new review paper published in Communications Earth & Environment, AIMS oceanographer Dr. Jessica Benthuysen and co-authors found that researchers are developing their understanding of the 3D structure of marine heat waves using observations and models.

"Marine heat waves are damaging to critical ecosystems like coral reefs, driving mass bleaching events like the five we have seen on the Great Barrier Reef since 2016. We need to keep building our understanding of them through sustained and targeted monitoring. This can inform management actions," said Dr. Benthuysen.

The scientists described how a range of data sources were used to capture temperatures and how they changed during a marine heat wave on the Great Barrier Reef in February 2020. These included temperature loggers on reefs, AIMS weather stations, and Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) moorings.

Underway systems on AIMS' Research Vessel Cape Ferguson measured surface water temperatures, providing near real time data, as it steamed across the Reef. Scientists also instigated the targeted deployment of IMOS ocean gliders to understand how deep the marine heat wave reached as part of the IMOS Event Based Sampling Facility.

"Together, these temperature measurements provided a comprehensive dataset for assessing the marine heat wave's characteristics and impacts during the 2020 mass coral bleaching event on the Reef," said Dr. Benthuysen.

The paper, "A global overview of marine heat waves in a changing climate," was a collaboration of international scientists who are a part of the Climate and Ocean Variability, Predictability, and Change (CLIVAR) project and was led by Dr. Antonietta Capotondi of the University of Colorado Boulder in the United States.

More information: Antonietta Capotondi et al, A global overview of marine heatwaves in a changing climate, Communications Earth & Environment (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s43247-024-01806-9

Journal information: Communications Earth & Environment

Provided by Australian Institute of Marine Science