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Ocean extremes as a stress test for marine ecosystems and society

Nature Climate Change volume 15, pages 231–235 (2025)Cite this article

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In 2023–2024, widespread marine heatwaves associated with record ocean temperatures impacted ocean processes, marine species, ecosystems and coastal communities, with economic consequences. Despite warnings, interventions were limited. Proactive strategies are needed for inevitable future events.

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Fig. 1: MHW activity in 2023–2024.
Fig. 2: Impacts of MHWs during 2023–2024.
Fig. 3: Appropriate preparation and responses to MHWs result in response plans being formed.

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Acknowledgements

D.A.S. was supported by a UK Research and Innovation Future Leaders Fellowship (grant MR/X023214/1). T.W. was supported by the Australian Research Council (grant DP200100201, FL240100015) and the Norwegian Research Council (GecoKelp project no. 335371). K.F.-D. was supported by the Australian Research Council (FT230100214) and the Norwegian Research Council (BlueArc project no. 334760). M.S.T. was supported by a University of Canterbury Seeding Grant and the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (Toka ākau toitu Kaitiakitanga — building a sustainable future for coastal reef ecosystems). A.J.H. was supported by the BOM-CSIRO MHW project. P.J.M. and M.T.B. were supported by the Natural Environment Research Council Newton Fund (grant NE/S011692/2). N.J.H. was supported by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes (CE170100023) and Australia’s National Environmental Science Program Climate Systems Hub. A.S.G. and N.M. were supported by an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (FT220100475). E.C.J.O was supported by a National Science and Engineering Council of Canada Discovery Grant (RGPIN-2018–05255). We acknowledge the Marine Heatwaves International Working Group (https://www.marineheatwaves.org) and several of its workshops for fostering much of this discussion.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, Plymouth, UK

    Kathryn E. Smith & Dan A. Smale

  2. Climate Change Research Centre, Centre for Marine Science & Innovation and ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Alex Sen Gupta & Neil Malan

  3. Scottish Association for Marine Science, Oban, UK

    Michael T. Burrows

  4. UWA Oceans Institute and School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia

    Karen Filbee-Dexter, Mads S. Thomsen & Thomas Wernberg

  5. Institute of Marine Research, Flødevigen Research Station, His, Norway

    Karen Filbee-Dexter & Thomas Wernberg

  6. CSIRO Environment, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

    Alistair J. Hobday

  7. Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies and ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

    Neil J. Holbrook & Zijie Zhao

  8. Dove Marine Laboratory, School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, UK

    Pippa J. Moore

  9. Department of Oceanography, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

    Eric C. J. Oliver

  10. The Marine Ecology Research Group, Centre of Integrative Ecology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

    Mads S. Thomsen

  11. Department of Ecoscience, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark

    Mads S. Thomsen

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  1. Kathryn E. Smith
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  2. Alex Sen Gupta
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  13. Dan A. Smale
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Correspondence to Kathryn E. Smith.

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Smith, K.E., Sen Gupta, A., Burrows, M.T. et al. Ocean extremes as a stress test for marine ecosystems and society. Nat. Clim. Chang. 15, 231–235 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-025-02269-2

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