Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 10, 2025
06:10
Using Generative Art to Convey Past and Future Climate Transitions
Published on: March 31, 2023
1.3K
Insights into projected changes in marine heatwaves from a high-resolution ocean circulation model
Hakase Hayashida1,2, Richard J Matear3,4, Peter G Strutton5,3
1Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. hakase.hayashida@utas.edu.au.
Nature Communications
|August 30, 2020
Summary
Global climate models show intensifying marine heatwaves. A high-resolution ocean model reveals crucial regional differences, especially in western boundary currents, vital for adaptation planning.
Area of Science:
- Oceanography
- Climate Science
- Marine Biology
Background:
- Global climate models project intensifying marine heatwaves due to global warming.
- Current models lack the spatial resolution to capture mesoscale processes in boundary current regions, where impacts are substantial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare historical and projected marine heatwaves using a high-resolution ocean model versus coarser climate models.
- To investigate model discrepancies in simulating marine heatwaves, particularly in western boundary current regions.
Main Methods:
- Comparison of a 0.1° ocean model with 23 coarser-resolution climate models.
- Analysis of historical and projected changes in marine heatwave characteristics.
- Focus on western boundary current regions to assess mesoscale process influence.
Main Results:
- Coarser models show less intense historical marine heatwaves and greater projected intensification compared to the high-resolution model.
- Significant model disagreement exists in simulating marine heatwaves in western boundary currents.
- High-resolution model captures eddy-driven variability, improving regional accuracy.
Conclusions:
- High-resolution ocean models are crucial for accurately simulating marine heatwaves in western boundary currents.
- Understanding regional variability is essential for effective climate change adaptation planning.
- Model resolution significantly impacts projections of marine heatwave intensity and frequency.
Related Concept Videos
01:50Global Climate Change
28.3K
Throughout its ~4.5 billion year history, the Earth has experienced periods of warming and cooling. However, the current drastic increase in global temperatures is well outside of the Earth’s cyclic norms, and evidence for human-caused global climate change is compelling. Paleoclimatology, the study of ancient climate conditions, provides ample evidence for human-caused global climate change by comparing recent conditions with those in the past.
28.3K
02:46Quantifying Heat
61.1K
Thermal Energy Microscopically, thermal energy is the kinetic energy associated with the random motion of atoms and molecules. Temperature is a quantitative measure of “hot” or “cold”, which depends on the amount of thermal energy. When the atoms and molecules in an object are moving or vibrating quickly, they have a higher average kinetic energy (KE) (or higher thermal energy), and the object is perceived as “hot”, or it is described as being at a higher temperature. When the...
61.1K
01:12Heat Flow and Specific Heat
6.4K
Heat is a type of energy transfer that is caused by a temperature difference, and it can change the temperature of an object. Since heat is a form of energy, its SI unit is the joule (J). Another common unit of energy often used for heat is the calorie (cal), which is defined as the energy needed to change the temperature of 1 g of water by 1 °C, specifically between 14.5 °C and 15.5 °C, since the energy needed shows a slight temperature dependence. Another commonly used unit is...
6.4K
01:20Mechanisms of Heat Transfer II
4.0K
In convection, thermal energy is carried by the large-scale flow of matter. Ocean currents and large-scale atmospheric circulation, which result from the buoyancy of warm air and water, transfer hot air from the tropics toward the poles and cold air from the poles toward the tropics. The Earth’s rotation interacts with those flows, causing the observed eastward flow of air in the temperate zones. Convection dominates heat transfer by air, and the amount of available space for the airflow...
4.0K
01:14Mechanisms of Heat Transfer
1.4K
Heat transfer between the human body and its environment occurs through four main mechanisms: conduction, convection, radiation, and evaporation.
Conduction, accounting for approximately 3% of body heat loss at rest, is the process of exchanging heat between molecules of two materials in direct contact. This can result in both heat loss and gain. For instance, when the body is submerged in water, which conducts heat 20 times more effectively than air, it can either lose or gain significant...
Conduction, accounting for approximately 3% of body heat loss at rest, is the process of exchanging heat between molecules of two materials in direct contact. This can result in both heat loss and gain. For instance, when the body is submerged in water, which conducts heat 20 times more effectively than air, it can either lose or gain significant...
1.4K
01:19Mechanism of heat transfer
1.7K
Understanding heat transfer mechanisms is essential for understanding how our bodies maintain balance in different environmental conditions. When the environment is thermoneutral, the body is in a state of balance, neither using nor releasing energy to maintain its core temperature. However, when the environment is not thermoneutral, the body employs four heat transfer mechanisms to maintain homeostasis: conduction, convection, evaporation, and radiation. These mechanisms facilitate heat...
1.7K