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  • Pyramid of Djoser

     

     

    Last week, Egypt reopened the Pyramid of Djoser, the first pyramid ever built, after a 14-year restoration. The structure is believed to be designed by Imhotep, described by some as the first architect of the world.

    The Pyramid of Djoser

    • The 4,700-year-old pyramid is 60 metres tall, and consists of six stacked steps over a burial shaft tomb 28 metres deep and seven metres wide.
    • It is located at the Saqqara archaeological site, 24 km southwest of Cairo, outside the royal capital of Memphis. A complex of halls and courts is located around the pyramid.
    • It is the world’s oldest monumental stone building.
    • Today a UNESCO world heritage site, the pyramid was constructed during the era of Pharaoh Djoser, the second king of Ancient Egypt’s Third Dynasty (2650 BC– 2575 BC).
    • The Pharaoh’s 19-year reign saw significant technical innovations in stone architecture.
    • The pyramid’s architect, Imhotep, was also a physician and astrologer, and served as Djoser’s minister.

  • Explained: Cycle 25/ Solar Cycle

     

     

    The sunspots identified by researchers from IISER Kolkata herald the start of a new solar cycle called Cycle 25.

    What are Sunspots?

    • Sunspots are temporary phenomena on the Sun’s photosphere that appear as spots darker than the surrounding areas. They are relatively cooler spots on the Sun’s surface.
    • They are regions of reduced surface temperature caused by concentrations of magnetic field flux that inhibit convection.
    • Sunspots usually appear in pairs of opposite magnetic polarity with a leader and a follower.

    What is Solar Cycle?

    • From our safe distance of about 148 million km, the Sun appears to be sedate and constant. However, huge solar flares and coronal mass ejections spew material from its surface into outer space.
    • They originate from sunspots, an important phenomenon that people have been following for hundreds of years. They originate deep within the Sun and become visible when they pop out.
    • Their number is not constant but shows a minimum and then rises up to a maximum and then falls again in what is called the solar cycle.
    • Every 11 years or so, the Sun’s magnetic field completely flips. This means that the Sun’s north and south poles switch places. Then it takes about another 11 years for the Sun’s north and south poles to flip back again.
    • So far, astronomers have documented 24 such cycles, the last one ended in 2019.

    How do they occur?

    • Given the high temperatures in the Sun, matter exists there in the form of plasma, where the electrons are stripped away from the nuclei.
    • The Sun is made of hot ionized plasma whose motions generate magnetic fields in the solar interior by harnessing the energy of the plasma flows.
    • This mechanism is known as the solar dynamo mechanism (or magnetohydrodynamic dynamo mechanism).
    • Simply stated, it is a process by which kinetic energy of plasma motions is converted to magnetic energy, which generates the magnetised sunspots, giving rise to the solar cycle..
    • Because of the nature of the solar dynamo, the part of its magnetic field that gives rise to sunspots reverses direction when it moves from one solar cycle to another.
    • This can be inferred by observing when the relative orientation of the sunspot pairs flips.

    Features

    • The solar cycle affects activity on the surface of the Sun, such as sunspots which are caused by the Sun’s magnetic fields. As the magnetic fields change, so does the amount of activity on the Sun’s surface.
    • One way to track the solar cycle is by counting the number of sunspots.
    • The beginning of a solar cycle is a solar minimum, or when the Sun has the least sunspots. Over time, solar activity—and the number of sunspots—increases.
    • The middle of the solar cycle is the solar maximum, or when the Sun has the most sunspots. As the cycle ends, it fades back to the solar minimum and then a new cycle begins.
    • Giant eruptions on the Sun, such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections, also increase during the solar cycle. These eruptions send powerful bursts of energy and material into space.

    Impacts of Solar Cycle

    • This activity has effects on Earth. For example, eruptions can cause lights in the sky, called aurora, or impact radio communications. Extreme eruptions can even affect electricity grids on Earth.
    • Solar activity can affect satellite electronics and limit their lifetime.
    • Radiation can be dangerous for astronauts who do work on the outside of the International Space Station.
    • Forecasting of the solar cycle can help scientists protect our radio communications on Earth, and help keep satellites and astronauts safe.

    Start of cycle 25

    • Following a weakening trend in activity over the last few cycles, there were predictions that the Sun would go silent into a grand minimum in activity, with the disappearance of cycles.
    • However, a team from IISER Kolkata has shown that there are signs that cycle 25 has just begun.
    • They used the data from the instrument Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager aboard NASA’s space-based Solar Dynamics Observatory for their calculations.

    Why is this so important to us on earth?

    • After all the sunspots look small and are hardly even visible to us. Contrary to this, sunspot activity may be correlated with climate on earth.
    • In the period between 1645 and 1715, sun spot activity had come to a halt on the Sun – a phenomenon referred to as the Maunder minimum.
    • This coincided with extremely cold weather globally. So sunspots may have a relevance to climate on earth.
    • Such links are tenuous, but definitely solar activity affects space weather, which can have an impact on space-based satellites, GPS, power grids and so on.

  • Who were the Marakkars?

    The big-budget Malayalam film Marakkar: The Lion of the Arabian Sea is set to be released. It is a war film depicting the heroics of the Marakkar clan, whose leaders were naval chieftains of the Zamorin of Calicut during the 16th and 17th centuries.

    Who were the Marakkars?

    • By some accounts, they were of Arab origin and had migrated from Tunisia to Panthalayani near Koyilandy in present-day Kozhikode, and later moved to the region around present-day Kottakkal and Thikkodi near Payyoli.
    • By other accounts, the Marakkars were descendants of affluent businessman from the Cochin kingdom who migrated later to Calicut.
    • Historians say the name ‘Marakkar’ could have originated from maram or marakkalam, meaning ship, as these families lived along the coast and used ships.
    • Alternatively, it could have originated from the Arabic word markaba, meaning those who migrated via ships.
    • The Marakkars were mostly Muslims, but in some parts, they have been found to be Hindus as well.

    What was the war against the Portuguese about?

    • The Zamorin, Samoothiri in Malayalam, was the title given to rulers of the Calicut kingdom on the Malabar coast.
    • Faced with invading Portuguese ships, the Zamorin reached out to the Marakkars to defend the coast. The Marakkars fought against Portuguese invaders for nearly a century.
    • They were led in succession by four Marakkars, chief admirals who were appointed by the Zamorin with the title of Kunjali.
    • Related by bloodline, they were Kuttyali Marakkar (Kunjali Marakkar I, appointed in 1507), Kutty Pokker (Kunjali Marakkar II), Pathu Marakkar (Kunjali Marakkar III) and Muhammad Ali Marakkar (Kunjali Marakkar IV, appointed in 1595).
    • Their strategy was similar to guerrilla warfare. The Portuguese had massive ships which could not make easy manoeuvres in the sea.
    • The Marakkars used small ships which could easily surround the Portuguese ships, enabling the fighters to attack at will.

    Who is depicted the ‘Lion of the Arabian Sea’?

    • Kunjali Marakkar IV earned his reputation with his fierce onslaught on Portuguese ships, the favours he gave those who fought against the Portuguese, and his efforts to strengthen the fort at Kottakkal.
    • When he took charge in 1595, relations between the Zamorin and the Marakkars were deteriorating.
    • The Zamorin was feeling threatened by Kunjali Marakkar IV’s popularity, and by reports (said to be spread by the Portuguese) that he was planning to create a Muslim empire.
    • In 1597, the Zamorin signed a peace treaty with the Portuguese and attacked Kottakkal fort. For months, the Marakkars resisted the attack by the Zamorin’s Nair soldiers and the Portuguese fleet.
    • Eventually, as Portugal sent more forces and the Zamorin mounted his effort, Marakkar surrendered to the Zamorin on the assurance that their lives would be spared. But the Portuguese violated the terms, arrested him, took him to Goa and beheaded him.

  • The role of women in developing a knowledge economy

    The role of women in developing a knowledge economy

    Context

    Indian economic success requires scientific skills that can foster a knowledge economy, the emergence of which depends on how gender-balanced the workforce is.

    Half the scientific potential squandered

    • The requirement of the skilled workforce: A rapidly growing India requires a highly skilled technical workforce that is crucial for developing a knowledge economy.
      • Unfortunately, half the scientific potential of India—women in science—is squandered.
      • Women make up only 14% of the 280,000 scientists, engineers, and technologists in research and development institutions across the country, according to a recent study.
    • Several barriers in careers: Today, fewer women apply for or hold key scientific positions as several barriers prevent them from progressing in their careers, in comparison with their male counterparts.

    Several unacknowledged factors that disadvantage women

    • There is widespread frustration experienced by women, who find it difficult if not impossible to fulfil their scientific potential.
      • Even today, several factors that disadvantage women are not acknowledged widely enough.
    • What are the difficulties faced by women: Peer-reviewed research reports have indicated that women-
      • Scientists earn less.
      • Have less prestige within departments.
      • Have less lab space.
      • Are offered inadequate jobs on graduating with science degrees and have more teaching responsibilities.
      • They also face greater difficulty in receiving grants and therefore apply for fewer grants in the first place.
    • Imperative to tackle issues: It is imperative to tackle these issues with vigour if India is to take its rightful place among developed nations.

    Lack of informal networks

    • Women tend to lack access to informal networks that provide opportunities to work in high-profile projects.
      • Which include attending conferences abroad or on-the-job opportunities.
    • How it affects them? They lack the work experience that would enable them to rise up the ranks and provide access to the wide range of developmental models that could build the credibility they need to advance.

    Importance of mentor

    • Performance assessment is now an integral part of an organization’s performance management systems, implemented as companies move away from the age-old concepts of training and skill development.
    • How mentors matters? Mentors often help build confidence as well as professional identity in protégés and offer access to developmental opportunities, allowing individuals to demonstrate their ability and gain trust.
      • Mentors keep information channels open and provide feedback on performance in crucial times.
      • It has been noted that almost every successful woman has had a mentor at some time.

    How organizations work culture matters?

    • Unepathetic culture: Organizations often define success by the willingness of their employee to work for long hours and prioritize work over everything else—a “live to work” ideal, generally regarded as more masculine.
      • Group membership as criteria leads to discrimination: When women feel selected or assessed on the basis of group membership rather than their work record and abilities, they experience gender discrimination.
      • Women feel that an unempathetic culture is one of the most significant barriers to their advancement.
    • Gender bias as a major career obstacle: A study highlighted that only 3% of women surveyed regarded family responsibilities as their most serious career obstacle, while 50% cited gender bias.
      • Only 7% of female employees surveyed reported leaving the organization for family reasons, whereas 73% reported leaving because they saw limited opportunities.
      • Quit rate: The quit rates for women were significantly lower in organizations that provided better training and promotion opportunities.
    • The need for the employee-friendly policies: In recent years, we have witnessed an increase in the number of women with children who participate in the country’s paid workforce.
      • An organization’s culture has a significant impact on those who work within it.
      • Unfortunately, not many organizations have revised their work policies or employee expectations to enable women to strike a balance between their work and family responsibilities.
      • Flexible policies: For instance, the internet and telecom revolutions have enabled organizations to introduce employee-friendly policies such as Flexi-work hours and work-from-home that have significantly transformed workplace practices.

    Way forward

    • Need for the realisation of the full potential of women: Science needs the best scientists, and a knowledge economy needs a gender-balanced workforce. This can only be attained by realizing the full potential of women.
    • Reach out to young girls: Apart from being wasteful and unjust, the under-representation of women in science threatens the goal of achieving excellence in the field. To tackle this, we must set an ambitious target of reaching out to 1 million young girls each year and encourage them to take up science and make a difference.
    • Convention of women: A national convention of women in science must be held annually, with a specific focus on discussing and building general awareness around the major challenges that women face.

    Conclusion

    We must mobilize all our resources if India aims to be a $5 trillion economy. The gender imbalance in science and technology is a looming challenge and threatens to weaken our country’s competitive economic position. By addressing these concerns, we can empower and motivate more women to join scientific fields, unlock India’s full potential, and develop the country to become a knowledge economy.

  • Persons in news: Rajkumari Amrit Kaur

     

     

    Former PM Indira Gandhi and freedom fighter Rajkumari Amrit Kaur are mentioned in TIME magazine’s list of the 100 most powerful women who defined the last century in a new project that aims to feature those women who were “often overshadowed”.

    Who was Amrit Kaur?

    • Amrit Kaur was the first woman in independent India who joined the Cabinet as the Health Minister and remained in that position for 10 years.
    • Born into the Kapurthala royal family, she was educated in Oxford and returned to India in 1918, and began to be drawn towards the work and teachings of MK Gandhi.

    Her contributions

    • Before taking up the position of a Health Minister, Kaur was Mahatma Gandhi’s secretary.
    • During these 10 years, she founded the Indian Council for Child Welfare.
    • She also laid the foundation of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Lady Irwin College in Delhi in the following years.
    • Apart from joining the nationalist freedom struggle, Kaur also began work on a number of other social and political issues such as the purdah system, child marriage and the Devadasi system.
    • She passed away in 1964, at the age of 75.

    Role in the freedom struggle

    • In 1936, hoping that more women would join the freedom struggle, Gandhiji invited her.
    • In the following years, as Kaur started interacting with other freedom fighters such as Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Mahatma Gandhi, she gave up her princely comforts and began to discipline herself by responding to the Gandhian call.
    • When the civil disobedience movement took off in the 1930s, Kaur dedicated her life to it.
    • Kaur was jailed after the Quit India movement and carried to the jail a spinning wheel, the Bhagwat Gita and the Bible.
    • Further, while Kaur advocated for equality, she was not in favour of reservations for women and believed that universal adult franchise would open the doors for women to enter into the legislative and administrative institutions of the country.
    • In light of this, she believed that there was no place left for reservation of seats.

  • Biju Patnaik: The flying ace who helped Indian and foreign freedom movements 

     

     

    Recently, 104th birth anniversary of former Odisha chief minister Biju Patnaik was celebrated. He was a decorated freedom fighter. PM tweeted an Intelligence Bureau document from 1945 to show how Patnaik bravely lent his flying skills to rescue freedom fighters like Ram Manohar Lohia.

    Biju Pattnaik

    • Bijayananda Patnaik (1916-1997), popularly known as Biju Patnaik, was an Indian politician, aviator and businessman. As politician, he served twice as the Chief Minister of the State of Odisha.
    • It is well known that Biju Patnaik actively helped freedom fighters in the 1940s.
    • His daring was evident as he actively joined the Quit India movement in 1942 and collaborated with the underground leaders like Jayaprakash Narayan, Aruna Asif Ali and Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia, even while in the British service.
    • Patnaik was imprisoned by the British Government for three years later.

    Role in foreign freedom struggles

    • As an officer in the Royal Indian Air Force in the early 1940s, Patnaik flew innumerable sorties to rescue British families fleeing the Japanese advance on Rangoon, the capital of Burma.
    • He also dropped arms and supplies to Chinese troops fighting the Japanese and later to the Soviet army struggling against Hitler’s onslaught near Stalingrad.
    • On the 50th anniversary of the end of the war, Patnaik was honoured by the Russians for his help,” the obit noted.
    • Interestingly, Nehru entrusted Patnaik with rescuing Indonesian resistance fighters who were fighting their Dutch colonisers.
    • Accompanied by wife Gyanwati, “the lanky pilot flew an old Dakota aircraft to Singapore en route to Jakarta where the rebels were entrenched” in 1948.
    • Dodging the Dutch guns, he entered Indonesian airspace and landed on an improvised airstrip near Jakarta.
    • Using left-over fuel from abandoned Japanese military dumps, Patnaik took off with prominent rebels, including Sultan Shariyar and Achmad Sukarno, for a secret meeting with Nehru at New Delhi.

  • The Central Sanskrit Universities Bill, 2019

     

     

    The Union Minister of HRD has introduced The Central Sanskrit Universities Bill, 2019 in Rajya Sabha.

    Central Sanskrit Universities Bill, 2019

    The Bill is intended to convert India’s three deemed-to-be Sanskrit universities — (i) Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, New Delhi, (ii) Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth, New Delhi, and (iii) Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth, Tirupati — into Central Sanskrit Universities.

    The following are the salient features of the Bill:

    What the universities will do

    The proposed central universities will:

    1. disseminate and advance knowledge for the promotion of Sanskrit,
    2. make special provisions for integrated courses in humanities, social sciences, and science, and
    3. train manpower for the overall development and preservation of Sanskrit and allied subjects.

    Powers and functions

    These include:

    1. prescribing courses of study and conducting training programmes,
    2. granting degrees, diplomas, and certificates,
    3. providing facilities through a distance education system,
    4. conferring autonomous status on a college or an institution,
    5. providing instructions for education in Sanskrit and allied subjects.

    University authorities

    Some of the authorities that the universities will have:

    • A court, which will review the policies of the university and suggest measures for its development.
    • An Executive Council, which will be the principal executive body. The 15-member council will include the Vice-Chancellor appointed by the Centre, who will be the chairperson; a joint secretary of the Ministry of HRD, and two eminent academics from the field of Sanskrit or allied subjects.
    • The council will, among other functions, create teaching and academic posts and their appointment, and manage the revenue and property of the university.
    • An Academic and Activity Council, which will supervise academic policies.
    • A Board of Studies, which will approve the subjects for research and recommend measures to improve standards of teaching.

    Visitor of the universities

    • Like at all central universities, the President of India will be the Visitor of the central Sanskrit universities.
    • He may appoint persons to review and inspect the functioning of the University.
    • The Executive Council may take action based on the findings of the inspection.

  • [pib] Various schemes implemented by Zonal Cultural Centres (ZCCs)

    The Ministry of Culture and Tourism has informed about its various schemes in the Lok Sabha.

    Zonal Cultural Centres (ZCCs)

    • To preserve & promote various forms of folk art and culture of the tribals throughout the country including West Bengal, the govt. has set up seven Zonal Cultural Centres (ZCCs).
    • These are headquartered at Patiala, Nagpur, Udaipur, Prayagraj, Kolkata, Dimapur and Thanjavur.
    • These ZCCs organize various cultural activities and programmes all over the country on regular basis.

    These ZCCs under Ministry of Culture are also implementing a number of schemes for promoting the folk/tribal art and culture, details of which are as below –

    1) Award to Young Talented Artists:

    • The Scheme “Young Talented Artists” is carried out to encourage and recognize the young talents especially in the field of rare art forms.
    • Talented youngsters of the age group of 18-30 years are selected and given a one-time  cash award of Rs. 10,000/-.

    2) Guru Shishya Parampara:

    • This scheme envisages transmitting our valued traditions to the coming generations. Disciples are trained under veterans in art forms which are rare and vanishing.
    • Rare and vanishing art forms of the region are identified and eminent exponents are selected to carry out the training programmes in ‘Gurukula’ tradition.
    • The monthly remuneration for Guru – Rs. 7,500/-, Accompanist – Rs. 3,750/- and        Pupils – Rs. 1,500/- each for the period of six month to maximum 1 year for one scheme.
    • The names of the Gurus are recommended by the State Cultural Affairs Departments.

    3) National Cultural Exchange Programme (NCEP):

    • It can be termed as the lifeline of the Zonal Cultural Centers. Under this scheme, various festivals of performing arts, exhibitions, yatras etc are organized in member States.
    • Artists from other zones/states are invited to participate in these programmes. Participation of artists from the Zone in festivals held in other parts of the country are also facilitated.
    • Zonal centres also participate in Major festivals happening in member States by arranging performances during these festivals where large number of audience get chance to enjoy and understand art forms of other regions.
    • These festivals provide opportunity to taste and understand various cultures of our country.

    4) Preservation of Languages

    • Sahitya Akademi, an autonomous organization under Ministry of Culture, encourages the preservation and promotion of languages, especially the unrecognized and tribal languages.
    • The Akademi periodically organizes language conventions throughout the country in this regard.

    5) Theatre Rejuvenation:

    • To promote theatre activities including stage shows and Production oriented workshops, etc. Honorarium Up to Rs. 30,000/- per show excluding TA & DA is paid.
    • The groups finalized on the basis their credentials as well as the merit of project submitted by them.

    6) Research & Documentation:

    • To preserve promote and propagate vanishing visual and performing art forms including folk, tribal and classical in the field of music, dance, theatre, literature, fine arts etc. in print/ audio – visual media.
    • The art form is finalized in consultation with state Cultural Department.

    7) Shilpgram:  To promote folk and tribal art and crafts of the zone by organizing seminar, workshops, exhibitions, craft fairs, design development and marketing support to the artisans living in the rural areas.

    8) Octave:  To promote and propagate the rich cultural heritage of North East region comprising of eight States namely Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim, Nagaland, Manipur and Tripura to the rest of India.

  • [pib] India’s nominations for 2020 World Heritage List

    Government of India has submitted two nomination dossiers namely ‘Dholavira: A Harappan City’ and ‘Monuments and Forts of Deccan Sultanate’ for inclusion in the World Heritage List for the year 2020.  Govt. of Madhya Pradesh has submitted the proposal of ‘Group of Monuments at Mandu’ in the year 2019.

    What are World Heritage Sites?

    • A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area, selected by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for having cultural, historical, scientific or other forms of significance, which is legally protected by international treaties.
    • The sites are judged to be important for the collective and preservative interests of humanity.
    • To be selected, a WHS must be an already-classified landmark, unique in some respect as a geographically and historically identifiable place having special cultural or physical significance (such as an ancient ruin or historical structure, building, city, complex, desert, forest, island, lake, monument, mountain, or wilderness area).
    • It may signify a remarkable accomplishment of humanity, and serve as evidence of our intellectual history on the planet.
    • The sites are intended for practical conservation for posterity, which otherwise would be subject to risk from human or animal trespassing, unmonitored/uncontrolled/unrestricted access, or threat from local administrative negligence.
    • The list is maintained by the international World Heritage Program administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 “states parties” that are elected by their General Assembly.

    UNESCO World Heritage Committee

    • The World Heritage Committee selects the sites to be listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger.
    • It monitors the state of conservation of the World Heritage properties, defines the use of the World Heritage Fund and allocates financial assistance upon requests from States Parties.
    • It is composed of 21 states parties that are elected by the General Assembly of States Parties for a four-year term.
    • India is NOT a member of this Committee.
    • Recently, its 42nd meeting in 2018 was held in Manama Bahrain.

    Also read:

    https://www.civilsdaily.com/news/pib-india-gets-its-37th-unesco-world-heritage-site/

    https://www.civilsdaily.com/news/jaipur-gets-unesco-world-heritage-tag/

    https://www.civilsdaily.com/news/orchha-on-unesco-world-heritage-sites-tentative-list/

     

    Read more about the Tentative lists from India at:

    http://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/IN

  • Explained: Marine Heatwave (MHW)

     

     

    Scientists have observed unusually high sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the Pacific Ocean around the western coast of the United States.  This marine heatwave (MHW), covering an area of roughly 6.5 million square kilometres, can affect marine life and lead to droughts in the surrounding regions.

    What are MHWs?

    • We know that heatwaves occur in the atmosphere. We are all familiar with these extended periods of excessively hot weather.
    • However, heatwaves can also occur in the ocean and these are known as marine heatwaves, or MHWs.
    • These marine heatwaves, when ocean temperatures are extremely warm for an extended period of time can have significant impacts on marine ecosystems and industries.

    When do they occur?

    • Heatwaves can happen in summer and also in winter, where they are known as “winter warm-spells”.
    • These winter events can have important impacts, such as in the southeast of Australia where the spiny sea urchin can only colonize further south when winter temperatures are above 12 °C.

    What causes marine heatwaves?

    • Marine heatwaves can be caused by a whole range of factors, and not all factors are important for each event.
    • The most common drivers of marine heatwaves include ocean currents which can build up areas of warm water and air-sea heat flux, or warming through the ocean surface from the atmosphere.
    • Winds can enhance or suppress the warming in a marine heatwave, and climate modes like El Niño can change the likelihood of events occurring in certain regions.
    • MHWs can be caused due to large-scale drivers of the Earth’s climate like the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO).

    Impacts of the MHWs

    • Marine heatwaves affect ecosystem structure, by supporting certain species and suppressing others.
    • For example, after the 2011 marine heatwave in Western Australia the fish communities had a much more “tropical” nature than previously and switched from kelp forests to seaweed turfs.
    • Marine heatwaves can cause economic losses through impacts on fisheries and aquaculture.
    • Temperature-sensitive species such as corals are especially vulnerable to MHWs. In 2016, marine heatwaves across northern Australia led to severe bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef.

    How do we measure marine heatwaves?

    • A marine heatwave occurs when seawater temperatures exceed a seasonally-varying threshold (usually the 90th percentile) for at least 5 consecutive days.
    • Successive heatwaves with gaps of 2 days or less are considered part of the same event.

    Why study MHWs?

    • MHWs are increasing in frequency due to climate change. MHWs increased by 54 per cent in the last 30 years.
    • Despite their potential impact on the health of marine ecosystems, MHWs remain one of the least studied consequences of global warming.

    Way Forward

    • Marine heatwaves clearly have the potential to devastate marine ecosystems and cause economic losses in fisheries, aquaculture, and ecotourism industries.
    • However, their effects are often hidden from view under the waves until it is too late.
    • By raising general awareness of these phenomena, and by improving our scientific understanding of their physical properties and ecological impacts, we can better predict future conditions and protect vulnerable marine habitats and resources.