00:00Way back in 2013, an oceanic heatwave developed in the Pacific.
00:08Science Alert reports it stretched from Alaska all the way down to Mexico,
00:12and it produced toxic algae blooms, messed with oceanic ecology,
00:15and caused birds that rely on fish to starve.
00:18In fact, according to Earth data, the heatwave triggered a temperature jump
00:21in the waters off the coast of Oregon, causing them to skyrocket
00:24some 12.6 degrees Fahrenheit in a single hour.
00:27Now, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says
00:30these types of events don't just happen on the surface.
00:33They can also occur on the bottom of the ocean as well.
00:36What's more, they can be even more extreme and last even longer
00:39than the one experts clocked in 2013.
00:41Previous studies have relied almost solely on buoy data to track these events,
00:45but the researchers say oceanic heatwaves occurring deep underwater
00:48might not affect surface temperatures at all.
00:50Writing in their new report, quote,
00:52Not only do bottom marine heatwaves tend to persist longer than their surface counterparts,
00:56but there are many regions where bottom marine heatwave intensity
00:59tends to exceed surface marine heatwave intensity for the same location,
01:02spiking as much as 9 degrees Fahrenheit on the ocean floor,
01:05with the researchers adding that since we often have no indicators on the surface,
01:08we might only see its deadly effects long after its impact has already begun to show.
01:13We'll see you on the show.
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