Ocean

El Niño is coming, and ocean temps are already at record highs – that can spell disaster for fish and corals

El Niño weather events trigger intense and widespread periods of extreme ocean warming known as marine heat waves.

El Niño weather events trigger intense and widespread periods of extreme ocean warming known as marine heat waves. Image: Pexels/Francesco Ungaro

Dillon Amaya
Climate Research Scientist, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Share:
Our Impact
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Ocean is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
Stay up to date:

Ocean

Marine heatwaves can trigger coral bleaching.
Marine heatwaves can trigger coral bleaching. Image: REUTERS/Jorge Silva

Discover

What’s the World Economic Forum doing about climate change?

El Niño. Fierce marine heat waves like this one in 2019 can wreak havoc on sea life off the North American Pacific Coast with temperatures about 4 to 6 F (2 to 3 C) above normal.
Fierce marine heat waves like this one in 2019 can wreak havoc on sea life off the North American Pacific Coast with temperatures about 4 to 6 F (2 to 3 C) above normal. Image: Dillon Amaya
Have you read?

A chart showing how marine heat waves spike during El Niño years.
How marine heat waves have spiked during El Niño years. Image: The Conversation/CC-BY-ND

NOAA’s marine heat wave forecast issued in early April predicting October 2023.
NOAA’s marine heat wave forecast issued in early April predicting October 2023. Image: NOAA/Jacox
Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Related topics:
OceanClimate ChangeNature and Biodiversity
Share:
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

Why the tropical majority is key to creating effective ocean solutions at COP28, and beyond

Josheena Naggea, Alfredo Giron and Ana Spalding

November 29, 2023

1:37

About Us

Events

Media

Partners & Members

  • Join Us

Language Editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

© 2023 World Economic Forum