Marine heatwaves don't just hit coral reefs. They can cause chaos on the seafloor

  • Written by: Amandine Schaeffer, Senior lecturer, UNSW Sydney
Marine heatwaves don't just hit coral reefs. They can cause chaos on the seafloorShutterstock

Most of us know what a heatwave feels like on land – sweltering heat for days. But oceans get heatwaves too. When water temperature goes over a seasonal threshold for five days or more, that’s a marine heatwave. They do their worst damage in summer, when the ocean is already at its warmest, but they can occur any time...

Read more: Marine heatwaves don't just hit coral reefs. They can cause chaos on the seafloor