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Home / New Zealand

The Front Page: Why marine heatwave could lead to summer in October

Damien Venuto
By Damien Venuto
NZ Herald·
21 Sep, 2022 05:00 PM3 mins to read

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New Zealand is set for another scorcher this summer. Image / NZME

New Zealand is set for another scorcher this summer. Image / NZME

New Zealand oceans could be set for record summer amid marine heatwave conditions.

"If we compare the conditions that presently have in 2022 with last year, which ended up being one of our most severe ever, we're actually warmer this year in the northern North Island, the western and eastern North Island and the northern South Island," NIWA meteorologist Ben Noll tells the Front Page podcast.

"And if we compare to what occurred this time in 2017, we're warmer right across the board. So we have a higher jumping point than those two historical events."

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The 2017-2018 summer has gone down in record as the hottest we've ever had and we could be on track for something even more severe this year.

Noll says that if the current conditions are any indication of what may come, our oceans could be in for a scorching run.

This will ultimately attract more people to New Zealand's beaches, but it also has a devastating impact on the environment.

Warmer oceans lead to glacier melt, cascading losses in mussel and kelp beds, and tropical fish drifting into normally colder climes.

Compounding the impact of these conditions is the impact of La Niña, which is returning for the third year in a row.

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"La Niña is a climate driver... and it influences weather patterns," says Noll.

"When we question what has its hands on the steering wheel of Mother Nature's car, that's La Niña. It tends to be associated with warm subtropical winds from the north for New Zealand. It can be associated with marine heatwaves. And it can also bring wetter conditions to the north and east of the North Island."

Noll says that we will start to feel the impact of the warming conditions early this year.

"Even across the next week and by the end of September, we're seeing temperatures that could be well into the twenties potentially across parts of the country. That will actually help to reinforce the marine heatwave conditions that we're experiencing."

Provided that there aren't any significant changes, that will only ramp up as we head into the summer months.

"We may start to feel summer-like temperatures as early as late October or November. Summer could be bumped up - or at least the temperatures associated with summer."

Should these conditions persist all the way through summer, New Zealand could face tropical storms by autumn, says Noll.

"Because of the warmer seas, that could mean the strength of these systems is maintained as they approach New Zealand. We know that storms can bring some devastating and destructive impacts, so that'll be something we're keeping an eye on later in the summer season and during autumn."

The big challenge for meteorologists and climate scientists at the moment is ensuring that the public takes the risk of these conditions seriously.

"We run the risk of almost becoming acclimated to a warming world," says Noll.

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"It almost becomes white noise for the average person. It's another warmest month, another warmest year on record."

"But this is really Mother Nature's way of screaming out that she has a fever and she's trying to communicate that to us."

• The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am.

• You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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