Spatiotemporally Continuous Marine Heatwaves: A Novel Clustering Approach Reveals Increasing Frequency, Duration, Area, Intensity, and Movement Distance

Abstract Marine heatwaves (MHWs) are extended periods of unusually warm ocean temperatures that significantly impact marine ecosystems. While most studies concentrate on temporal changes at a single point or spatial changes over a fixed duration, the combined daily progression of these changes in bo...

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Main Authors: Jie Ren, Chunzai Wang, Yulong Yao
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2025-04-01
Series:Geophysical Research Letters
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL113211
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author Jie Ren
Chunzai Wang
Yulong Yao
author_facet Jie Ren
Chunzai Wang
Yulong Yao
author_sort Jie Ren
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Marine heatwaves (MHWs) are extended periods of unusually warm ocean temperatures that significantly impact marine ecosystems. While most studies concentrate on temporal changes at a single point or spatial changes over a fixed duration, the combined daily progression of these changes in both space and time is still largely unexplored. Here, we employ observational data from a three‐dimensional perspective (latitude × longitude × time) to examine multidimensional characteristics of Spatiotemporally Continuous MHWs (SCMHWs) worldwide from 1982 to 2022. We categorize them into eight types based on duration, area, and mean intensity. Results of the three‐dimensional identification show that there are 6,605 different SCMHWs, of which the most prevalent types are DurationNormalAreaNormalMean‐intensityNormal, DurationNormalAreaNormalMean‐intensityExtreme, and DurationExtremeAreaExtremeMean‐intensityNormal. Additionally, SCMHWs mainly spread east‐west and move faster than they do north‐south. Over the long term, these events have become more frequent, longer in duration, broader in coverage, slower in movement, and have migrated greater distances.
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publishDate 2025-04-01
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spelling doaj-art-e3b5ad3059434a2e83d9b3966dd8d9092025-08-20T02:56:35ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072025-04-01528n/an/a10.1029/2024GL113211Spatiotemporally Continuous Marine Heatwaves: A Novel Clustering Approach Reveals Increasing Frequency, Duration, Area, Intensity, and Movement DistanceJie Ren0Chunzai Wang1Yulong Yao2State Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography Chinese Academy of Sciences South China Sea Institute of Oceanology Guangzhou ChinaState Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography Chinese Academy of Sciences South China Sea Institute of Oceanology Guangzhou ChinaState Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography Chinese Academy of Sciences South China Sea Institute of Oceanology Guangzhou ChinaAbstract Marine heatwaves (MHWs) are extended periods of unusually warm ocean temperatures that significantly impact marine ecosystems. While most studies concentrate on temporal changes at a single point or spatial changes over a fixed duration, the combined daily progression of these changes in both space and time is still largely unexplored. Here, we employ observational data from a three‐dimensional perspective (latitude × longitude × time) to examine multidimensional characteristics of Spatiotemporally Continuous MHWs (SCMHWs) worldwide from 1982 to 2022. We categorize them into eight types based on duration, area, and mean intensity. Results of the three‐dimensional identification show that there are 6,605 different SCMHWs, of which the most prevalent types are DurationNormalAreaNormalMean‐intensityNormal, DurationNormalAreaNormalMean‐intensityExtreme, and DurationExtremeAreaExtremeMean‐intensityNormal. Additionally, SCMHWs mainly spread east‐west and move faster than they do north‐south. Over the long term, these events have become more frequent, longer in duration, broader in coverage, slower in movement, and have migrated greater distances.https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL113211
spellingShingle Jie Ren
Chunzai Wang
Yulong Yao
Spatiotemporally Continuous Marine Heatwaves: A Novel Clustering Approach Reveals Increasing Frequency, Duration, Area, Intensity, and Movement Distance
Geophysical Research Letters
title Spatiotemporally Continuous Marine Heatwaves: A Novel Clustering Approach Reveals Increasing Frequency, Duration, Area, Intensity, and Movement Distance
title_full Spatiotemporally Continuous Marine Heatwaves: A Novel Clustering Approach Reveals Increasing Frequency, Duration, Area, Intensity, and Movement Distance
title_fullStr Spatiotemporally Continuous Marine Heatwaves: A Novel Clustering Approach Reveals Increasing Frequency, Duration, Area, Intensity, and Movement Distance
title_full_unstemmed Spatiotemporally Continuous Marine Heatwaves: A Novel Clustering Approach Reveals Increasing Frequency, Duration, Area, Intensity, and Movement Distance
title_short Spatiotemporally Continuous Marine Heatwaves: A Novel Clustering Approach Reveals Increasing Frequency, Duration, Area, Intensity, and Movement Distance
title_sort spatiotemporally continuous marine heatwaves a novel clustering approach reveals increasing frequency duration area intensity and movement distance
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL113211
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AT chunzaiwang spatiotemporallycontinuousmarineheatwavesanovelclusteringapproachrevealsincreasingfrequencydurationareaintensityandmovementdistance
AT yulongyao spatiotemporallycontinuousmarineheatwavesanovelclusteringapproachrevealsincreasingfrequencydurationareaintensityandmovementdistance