Marine Heat Waves
Source: Indian Express
GS III: Environment
Overview
- News in Brief
- How it helps
- What is Marine Heat Waves?
- What is the impact of Marine Heat Waves?
Why in News ?
The sun is now frying the entire planet. While June was the planet’s warmest month on record, July is expected to surpass it by hundreds or perhaps thousands of years.
News in Brief
- Sweltering temperatures have induced extreme heat warnings, wildfires and poor air quality in different regions.
- But it isn’t just on the land that the mercury has soared the average daily global sea surface temperature is off the charts too.
- In April, it reached 21.1 degrees Celsius, breaking the previous record of 21 degrees Celsius in 2016.
- And since then, ocean temperatures have remained at record-high levels, giving rise to marine heat waves (MHWs) around the globe.
What is Marine Heat Waves?
- Marine heat wave is an extreme weather event.
- It happens when the sea surface temperature in a given area rises by three or four degrees Celsius for at least five days.
- According to the US government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), MHWs can endure for weeks, months, or even years.
- At present, MHWs have gripped the
- North-east Pacific
- Southern hemisphere in the southern Indian Ocean and the Pacific
- North-east Atlantic, tropical North Atlantic, and the Mediterranean
What is the impact of Marine Heat Waves?
- MHWs can have detrimental consequences on both human health and marine ecosystems.
- They could also change marine species’ migratory patterns, result in coral bleaching, or even affect weather patterns.
- Storms that are strengthened by MHWs have a devastating impact on coastal towns.
- The said 3 to 4 degree made severe impact on marine life.
- Sudden and unexpected death of many fish or other aquatic animals is an example.
- It will alter the ecosystem.
- Bleaching of coral reefs another impact.
What is Coral Bleaching?
- Water eject the zooxanthellae algae that reside in their tissues when the water temperature rises too high.
- This turns them completely white.
- The term for this is coral bleaching.
- Corals can survive a bleaching event, but they are under more stress and are subject to mortality.
- Various natural phenomena like hurricanes and tropical cyclones becomes more frequent.
- As the ocean warms heat from the oceans passes to the air.
- Severe rain fall causes frequent flooding.
- Besides the destruction of coral reef it affect the people depend on it.
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