Cited by 2,133Oceanographic and Atmospheric ProcessesClimate variability and modelsMarine and fisheries research

Longer and more frequent marine heatwaves over the past century.

Open access
Oliver, Eric C. J., Donat, Markus G., Burrows, Michael T., Moore, Pippa J., Smale, Dan A., Alexander, Lisa V., Benthuysen, Jessica A., Feng, Ming +7 more·2018·Nature Communications

Abstract

Heatwaves are important climatic extremes in atmospheric and oceanic systems that can have devastating and long-term impacts on ecosystems, with subsequent socioeconomic consequences. Recent prominent marine heatwaves have attracted considerable scientific and public interest. Despite this, a comprehensive assessment of how these ocean temperature extremes have been changing globally is missing. Using a range of ocean temperature data including global records of daily satellite observations, daily in situ measurements and gridded monthly in situ-based data sets, we identify significant increases in marine heatwaves over the past century. We find that from 1925 to 2016, global average marine heatwave frequency and duration increased by 34% and 17%, respectively, resulting in a 54% increase in annual marine heatwave days globally. Importantly, these trends can largely be explained by increases in mean ocean temperatures, suggesting that we can expect further increases in marine heatwave days under continued global warming.

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Crossref · 10.1038/s41467-018-03732-9

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  • The frequency of marine heatwaves has increased significantly in the tropical North Atlantic during the past 35 years and is expected to increase further in response to global warming.

    “The frequency of marine heatwaves has increased significantly in the tropical North Atlantic during the past 35 years and is expected to increase further in response to global warming (Oliver et al., 2018).”

    From The tropical atlantic observing system (2019) · cites this paper as Oliver et al., 2018

    The Results (‘Marine heatwaves over the satellite record’; page unavailable) report a significant global increase in frequency over 1982–2016 and more moderate increases in the subtropical North Atlantic. The Abstract expects further increases in marine heatwave days under continued global warming. Our copy does not establish a significant frequency increase specifically in the tropical North Atlantic or predict further frequency increases specifically there. (LLM, conf=0.85)

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Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. [3]Olita A Sorgente R Ribotti A Natale S Gaberšek S Effects of the 2003 European heatwave on the Central Mediterranean Sea surface layer: a numerical simulation Ocean Sci. Discuss. 2006 3 85 125 10.5194/osd-3-85-2006 · DOI
  2. [21]Bindoff, N. L. et al. Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group 1 to the Fifth Asessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group 1 to the Fifth Asessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, USA, 2013).
  3. [75]de Coëtlogon G Frankignoul C The persistence of winter sea surface temperature in the North Atlantic J. Clim. 2003 16 1364 1377 10.1175/1520-0442-16.9.1364 · DOI

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Authors
Oliver, E. C. J., Donat, M. G., Burrows, M. T., Moore, P. J., Smale, D. A., Alexander, L. V., Benthuysen, J. A., Feng, M., Sen Gupta, A., Hobday, A. J., Holbrook, N. J., Perkins-Kirkpatrick, S. E., Scannell, H. A., Straub, S. C., & Wernberg, T.
Affiliations
  • University of Tasmania (AU)
  • Australian Research Council (AU)
  • Scottish Association For Marine Science (GB)
  • Aberystwyth University (GB)
  • Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom (GB)
  • Australian Institute of Marine Science (AU)
  • CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere (AU)
  • University of Washington (US)
  • The University of Western Australia (AU)
Corresponding author
Oliver, Eric C. J.
Venue
Nature Communications
Published
2018-04-10
Volume
9
Issue
1
Pages
1324-1324
ISSN
2041-1723 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2797541543
Cited by
2,133
References
75
Citations by year
2026: 260 · 2025: 355 · 2024: 383 · 2023: 281 · 2022: 277 · 2021: 262 · 2020: 162 · 2019: 134 · 2018: 16
FWCI
92.21
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature Communications (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • UTAS Research Repository (acceptedVersion)
  • Marine Biological Association (acceptedVersion)
  • UNSWorks (University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • eCite Digital Repository (University of Tasmania) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • UWA Profiles and Research Repository (UWA) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • NOAA Institutional Repository (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • ANU Open Research (Australian National University) (submittedVersion)
  • Newcastle University ePrints (Newcastle Univesity) (cc-by)
Funders
  • Australian Government (CE170100023)
  • European Commission (303685)
  • Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
  • Climate Extremes (CE170100023)
  • Natural Environment Research Council (NE/K008439/, NE/J015148/1, NE/N00678X/1, NE/J022446/1, NE/J021938/1, NE/K008439/1, NE/J024082/1, NE/J015644/1)
  • Australian Research Council (DP170100023, FS110200029, FT110100174, DE150100456, DE140100952)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Oceanography › Oceanographic and Atmospheric Processes
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Climate variability and models
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Marine and fisheries research
Keywords
marine heatwaves, heatwave frequency, heatwave duration, global warming, ocean warming, climate extremes, ocean heat content

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