Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Multi-year marine heatwaves (MHWs) in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) are major climate events with lasting ecological and economic effects. Though often seen as local Pacific phenomena, our study shows their persistence depends on trans-basin interactions between the North Pacific and North Atlantic. Using observational data and climate model experiments, we find that prolonged MHWs occur as sequential warming episodes triggered by atmospheric wave trains crossing ocean basins. These wave trains alter surface heat flux, initiating MHWs in the GOA and changing North Atlantic sea surface temperatures (SSTs). In turn, Atlantic SST anomalies reinforce wave activity, fueling subsequent MHW episodes in a feedback loop. This mechanism appears in historical events (1949–52, 1962–65, 2013–16, and 2018–22), highlighting MHWs as a trans-basin phenomenon. Our findings link GOA MHWs to trans-basin atmospheric wave dynamics and identify North Atlantic SSTs as a potential predictor of their duration.
Authors: Yu Zhao, Jin-Yi Yu, Huang-Hsiung Hsu, I-I Lin, Song Yang, Chunzai Wang, Jian Shi, Yan Du, Xin Wang, Tao Lian, Sang-Wook Yeh
Institutions: University of California, Irvine, Research Center for Environmental Changes, Academia Sinica, Academia Sinica, National Taiwan University, Sun Yat-sen University, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Chinese Academy of Sciences, South China Sea Institute Of Oceanology, State Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography, Ocean University of China, Ministry of Natural Resources, Second Institute of Oceanography, State Key Laboratory of Satellite Ocean Environment Dynamics, Hanyang University
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,590
OpenAlex ID: W4413109728