The marine heatwave in the Tasman Sea

When the media mentioned this last year things didn’t seem that bad. Here is the situation now

Growing Tasman heatwave goes unmentioned in NZ media

 Compare that with the rest of the Pacific.

I have checked and there has been NOTHING in the NZ media about this in the last month.

In 2017 I identified the "Tasman marine heatwav" many weeks, even months, before NIWA informed us anything was going on. Then they ascribed it to a la-Nina.

To remind you from this time last year.

THE TASMAN SEA’S MARINE HEATWAVE

If you’ve jumped in the sea this summer and found it to be a surprisingly warm temperature that’s because the Tasman Sea is currently going through a “marine heatwave”.

Since November the water has been more than 2 degrees above average…in fact it’s been the warmest ever in records going back to 1900, for December at least.

And while that feels great for beachgoers, it’s not great for ocean species – extreme systems like this can have a profound affect on marine ecosystems.

Simon Morton speaks to climate scientist Dr Jim Salinger and Our Changing World’s Alison Ballance.