CSIRO and the Australian Government’s Bureau of Meteorology have produced a new poster illustrating four decades of marine heatwaves in Australian waters. You can explore and download the resource, along with more information about their recent work, here.

This poster presents a visual history of marine heatwaves around Australia over four decades, showing monthly marine heatwave conditions from the early 1980s to 2025. The grid of maps highlights when and where marine heatwaves occurred, with colours indicating increasing severity from moderate to extreme. The dataset reveals a clear increase in the frequency, duration and intensity of marine heatwaves through time, particularly in recent years. Notable events include the 2011 Western Australian marine heatwave, the 2015-16 Tasman Sea event, repeated impacts on the Great Barrier Reef, and the widespread and prolonged marine heatwaves affecting Australian waters during 2024-25.