Marine Heatwaves
A marine heatwave is a prolonged period of anomalously high sea surface temperature relative to the historical average for that location and time of year, generally classified by intensity into categories from "moderate" to "extreme" (a framework popularised by marine heatwave researchers such as Hobday et al.).
- Marine heatwaves cause coral bleaching, disrupt fish migration and breeding, and can trigger harmful algal blooms
- The Copernicus Marine Service and C3S jointly track daily global sea surface temperature anomalies used to detect and classify marine heatwave events
- Persistent marine heatwaves in the Mediterranean have previously been linked to mass mortality events in benthic species (e.g., gorgonians, sponges)
- India's own coastal waters, including parts of the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal, have shown warming trends linked to more intense and rapidly intensifying cyclones
● Tracked since April 23, 2026 · last seen August 24, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes
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