Are marine heatwaves increasing the likelihood of terrestrial heatwaves?

Despite numerous studies that have examined terrestrial or marine heatwaves independently, little work has been done investigating any possible association between the two. Examination of a limited number of past events suggests that co-occurring terrestrial and marine heatwaves may have common drivers, or may interact with each other. For example, a recent study¹ identified common remote drivers behind the major marine heatwave that developed in the South Atlantic during the summer of 2013/14 and terrestrial heatwaves over South America. Co-occurring events could also potentially interact via local land-sea interactions, thereby altering the likelihood of these co-occurring events. This study will explore possible links between adjacent coastal marine and terrestrial heatwaves. We will investigate the likelihood of co-occurrence of terrestrial and marine heatwaves, using statistical analysis of observational temperature data. We will also investigate the mechanisms driving co-occurring events, including the local fluxes, synoptic conditions, and links to large scale modes of climate variability