Analysis of Marine Heatwaves at Different Regions of Indian Ocean

Over the past two decades, marine heatwaves (MHWs) in the Indian Ocean have significantly increased in both frequency and intensity. The present study focuses on the causes, impacts, and trends of marine heatwave (MHW) events in specific regions like Somalia, Oman, Visakhapatnam, Head Bay of Bengal (HBoB), and Java- Sumatra (JS) of the Indian Ocean (IO) during 1981–2023. More than 100 MHW events, exceeding the 90th percentile threshold, have been noticed at the above regions. Variations in intensity, duration, and frequency analyzed for each location. Our findings shows an average of three MHW events per year, with a notable increase of 1.5 events per decade. During 2015 a very strong MHW event occurred at Somalia region, it continued up to 80 days with a maximum intensity of 2.88°C and a mean intensity of 1.46°C (above climatology mean). Furthermore, we also examined the recurrence patterns of MHW in various regions of the Indian Ocean.