Regional and context-specific approaches can improve study of marine heat waves

Marine heat waves can create chaos in ocean ecosystems and disrupt coastal economies. In recent years, they've made headlines for driving drastic changes in fish migration and more frequent occurrences of harmful algae blooms as well as for fueling storm systems. Yet in some situations, the broad definition of a marine heat wave—ocean temperatures exceeding a seasonal threshold for five consecutive days— leaves more questions than answers.