Table 1 Characteristics of MHW onsets in the Red Sea

From: Drivers of marine heatwaves in coral bleaching regions of the Red Sea

Region

Mean Summer MLT

Mean MLT during MHW Onset

Dominant driver of MHW onset

Median of MHW Duration

MHW onset cumulative warming

MHW decay dominant driver & cumulative cooling

Northern Red Sea

Sharm El Sheikh

28.1 °C

29.4 °C

Hadv (91.5 %)

9 days

0.88 °C

AHflux (−0.36 °C)

Hurghada

28.2 °C

29.4 °C

Hadv (97.2 %)

10 days

1 °C

AHflux (−0.51 °C)

Wadi El Gemal

29 °C

30.4 °C

Hadv (82.3%)

10 days

0.59 °C

AHflux (−0.24 °C)

AHflux (14.7 %)

9 days

0.24 °C

Al Wajh

30 °C

31.2 °C

Hadv (58.9 %)

10 days

0.74 °C

Hadv (−0.59 °C)

AHflux (28.4%)

10 days

1.10 °C

AHflux (−1.0 °C)

North-Central Red Sea

Southern Egypt

30.2 °C

31.2 °C

Hadv (66.8 %)

10 days

0.48 °C

AHflux (−0.30 °C)

AHflux (24.6 %)

9 days

0.28 °C

Yanbu

30.8 °C

32 °C

Hadv (45.7 %)

11 days

0.35 °C

AHflux (−0.26 °C)

AHflux (47.4 %)

10 days

0.40 °C

Thuwal_Rabigh

31.2 °C

32.3 °C

Hadv (47.3 %)

11 days

0.33 °C

AHflux (−0.25 °C)

AHflux (44.4 %)

10 days

0.36 °C

South-Central Red Sea

Sanganeb

31.6 °C

32.6 °C

Hadv (46.2 %)

10 days

0.31 °C

AHflux (−0.26 °C)

AHflux (43.4 %)

11 days

0.30°C

Al Lith

32 °C

33.2 °C

Hadv (60.4 %)

14 days

0.52 °C

AHflux (−0.20 °C)

Al Lith (27.4 %)

11 days

0.29 °C

South Red Sea

Massawa_Dahlak

33 °C

33.8 °C

Hadv (55.3 %)

11 days

0.36 °C

AHflux (−0.28 °C)

AHflux (19.1 %)

11 days

0.20 °C

Farasan

33 °C

33.7 °C

Hadv (59 %)

13 days

0.57 °C

AHflux (−0.23 °C)

AHflux (15.4 %)

31 days

0.25 °C

Al Khawkhah

31.5 °C

31.5 °C

Hadv (70.5 %)

10 days

0.36 °C

AHflux (−0.18 °C)

AHflux (18 %)

9 days

0.25 °C

  1. Overview of MHW types in selected study regions of the Red Sea, based on the major MHW onset drivers for the period 2001–2015; Horizontal Advection (Hadv) and atmosphere heat fluxes (AHflux). Shown here are: the mean and extreme summer temperatures during MHW onset, the frequency of dominant onset mechanisms (in percentage), the corresponding median of MHW duration (onset & decay), cumulative warming during onset and the dominant cooling mechanism with its cooling effect during MHW onset. In all study areas, the detected summer MHWs are initiated in July (earliest) and terminated in November (latest).
Back to article page