El Nino was a key driver of anomalous ocean warming in Southeast Asia in 2023.

ABSTRACT: In 2023, global ocean heat content reached unprecedented values since records began in 1960. The translation of global ocean heat into regional and local-scale ocean warming remains poorly understood because of limited observational data, particularly within Southeast Asia. Here, we investigate the 2023 ocean warming event in Southeast Asia using near-continuous 41-month in-situ ocean temperature observations from the Singapore Strait, satellite sea surface temperature (SST) measurements, and high-resolution reanalysis products. We document anomalous ocean warming across the Singapore Strait and surrounding South China Sea and Indonesian Seas to depths of at least 40 m. Peak SSTs of 1.8 °C above the climatological mean were recorded in the central Sunda Shelf in November 2023 for the first

SUBMITTER: Tan F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12062352 | biostudies-literature | 2025 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature