Articles | Volume 21, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-21-1987-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-21-1987-2025
Research article
 | 
15 Sep 2025
Research article |  | 15 Sep 2025

Tracking marine heatwaves in the Balearic Sea: temperature trends and the role of detection methods

Blanca Fernández-Álvarez, Bàrbara Barceló-Llull, and Ananda Pascual

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Cited articles

Aguiar, E., Mourre, B., Alvera-Azcárate, A., Pascual, A., Mason, E., and Tintoré, J.: Strong long-lived anticyclonic mesoscale eddies in the Balearic Sea: Formation, intensification, and thermal impact, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 127, e2021JC017589, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JC017589, 2022. 
Alemany, F., Quintanilla, L., Velez-Belchí, P., García, A., Cortés, D., Rodríguez, J. M., Fernández de Puelles, M. L., González-Pola, C., and López-Jurado, J. L.: Characterization of the spawning habitat of Atlantic bluefin tuna and related species in the Balearic Sea (western Mediterranean), Prog. Oceanogr., 86, 21–38, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2010.04.014, 2010. 
Bensoussan, N., Chiggiato, J., Buongiorno Nardelli, B., Pisano, A., and Garrabou, J.: Insights on 2017 Marine Heat Waves in the Mediterranean Sea, in: Copernicus Marine Service Ocean State Report, J. Oper. Oceanogr., https://doi.org/10.1080/1755876X.2019.1633075, 2019. 
Bian, C., Jing, Z., Wang, H., and Wu, L.: Scale-Dependent Drivers of Marine Heatwaves Globally, Geophys. Res. Lett., 51, e2023GL107306, https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL107306, 2024. 
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Short summary
Marine heatwave (MHW) standard detection methods use a fixed baseline, showing rising MHW frequency and intensity due to global warming. To address this, alternative approaches separate long-term warming from extreme events. Here we compare two in the Balearic Sea: a moving baseline and detrended data. From 1982 to 2023, we found a warming trend of 0.036 °C per year, with major MHWs in 2003 and 2022 identified by all methods. Only the fixed baseline shows rising MHW duration and intensity.
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