The world’s oceans are getting hotter, and marine heat waves are becoming more common and severe. These heat waves can have devastating consequences for marine life, including mass mortality, disease outbreaks, and harmful algal blooms. They can also disrupt fisheries and tourism, and have a negative impact on food security.

Alistair Hobday, a biological oceanographer at CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, has been studying the impact of climate change on the oceans for many years. He says that the frequency and intensity of marine heat waves have increased significantly in recent decades and that this trend is likely to continue.

Hobday has also developed methods to predict marine heat waves, which could help businesses and governments to mitigate their impacts. He believes that naming marine heat waves like hurricanes would help to raise awareness of the issue and improve ocean literacy.

As Australia heads into summer, Hobday is predicting that the Great Barrier Reef will experience another marine heat wave. This could cause further bleaching of the reef, which is already in a critical state.

Hobday says that we need to take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change. He also believes that we need to invest in research to better understand the impact of marine heat waves and develop ways to protect marine life.

• Marine heat waves are becoming more common and severe due to climate change.
• Marine heat waves can have devastating consequences for marine life, fisheries, and tourism.
• Scientists are developing methods to predict marine heat waves, which could help to mitigate their impacts.
• We need to take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change.
• We also need to invest in research to better understand the impact of marine heat waves and develop ways to protect marine life.