Trans-basin interaction sustains multi-year marine heatwaves in the Gulf of Alaska
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
- Jian Shi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8042-7789)
- Chunzai Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7611-0308)
- Yan Du (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3197-7204)
- Jin‐Yi Yu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6156-7623)
- Sang‐Wook Yeh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4549-1686)
- I.‐I. Lin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8364-8106)
- Tao Lian (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7438-4110)
- Song Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5192-8261)
- Huang‐Hsiung Hsu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9919-4404)
- Xiaoliang Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2345-7308)
- Yu Zhao
Institutions
- Sun Yat-sen University (CN)
- National Taiwan University (TW)
- University of California, Irvine (US)
- Ministry of Natural Resources (CN)
- Institute of Oceanology (CN)
- South China Sea Institute Of Oceanology (CN)
- Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou) (CN)
- Second Institute of Oceanography (CN)
- Irvine University (US)
- Research Center for Environmental Changes, Academia Sinica (TW)
- Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai) (CN)
- Hanyang University (KR)
- Ocean University of China (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- npj Climate and Atmospheric Science
- Published
- 2025-08-08
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-025-01187-6
- Primary Topic
- Climate variability and models
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- California Space Grant Consortium