Science Source

The unprecedented 2015/16 Tasman Sea marine heatwave

States that the Tasman Sea off southeast Australia exhibited its longest and most intense marine heatwave ever recorded in 2015/16
Reports on several inter-related aspects of this event: observed characteristics, physical drivers, ecological impacts and the role of climate change
Outlines the characteristics of this heatwave, which lasted for 251 days reaching a maximum intensity of 2.9 °C above climatology
Finds that the anomalous warming is dominated by anomalous convergence of heat linked to the southward flowing East Australian Current
Uses global climate models to estimate the increased risk of MHWs in the Tasman Sea, with the duration and intensity of this particular event observed in the summer of 2015/16, due to anthropogenic climate change (≥330 times and ≥6.8 times as likely, respectively)
Documents how the 2015/16 MHW affected regional coastal ecosystems, from new disease outbreaks in farmed shellfish to mortality of wild molluscs