21世纪的工业发展迅猛，在“海洋命运共同体”的视域下，全球变暖、微塑料污染、海洋酸化、海洋硫化、海洋缺氧、海洋热浪、海洋生物链断层，珊瑚白化、海草退化、海洋旗舰物种濒临灭绝……这些正在发生，在国际海洋生态环境日益严峻的今天，自然已对人类拉响了警铃……

In the 21st century, the industry has experienced a rapid development. Under the “Community with a Shared Future for Ocean”, global warming, microplastic pollution, ocean acidification, ocean sulfide, ocean hypoxia, ocean heat waves, marine biological chain fault, coral bleaching, seagrass degradation, marine flagship species on the verge of extinction and so on are happening, and nature has sounded the warning alarm to the mankind in today’s increasingly critical international marine ecosystem.

海洋温度的变化是地球气候系统的基本组成部分，这种变化的极端性影响着全世界海洋生态系统的健康。鉴于全球海洋变暖的背景趋势下发生的极端极端暖水事件，海洋热浪的研究已经成为一个快速发展的研究领域。

Changes of ocean temperature are a fundamental component of the Earth’s climate system, and the extremity of these changes affects the health of marine ecosystems around the world. In light of the extreme warm water events occurring in the context of the global ocean warming, the study of ocean heat wave has become a rapidly popular research field.

海洋热浪，是指海域水温异常超高，海洋温度上升，并持续时间超长的海洋灾害。海洋热浪对海洋生态系的破坏非常直接，不仅会导致虫黄藻离开珊瑚，从而导致珊瑚白化与死亡，其海域海水超长时期的高温也影响着鱼类，最终会导致大面积的鱼类逃离或死亡，最终会导致海洋荒漠化。

Ocean heat wave is a marine disaster in which the water temperature is abnormally ultra-high and the ocean temperature rises and lasts for an exceedingly long period of time. The damage to the marine ecosystem from ocean heat wave is very direct. Not only will it cause the zooxanthella to leave the coral, thus leading to coral bleaching and death, but the ultra-long period of high seawater temperature also affects the fish, which will eventually lead to the escape or death of a large number of fish and the ocean desertification.

图：夏威夷海岛珊瑚礁的白化

海洋之中，四分之一的鱼的生存依靠珊瑚礁的环境。而海洋热浪所造成的，水温与洋流的改变，浮游植物群落的变化，直接影响了海洋中最微小的有机体，而这种微小的有机体正是海洋食物链中的最基础的环节。

A quarter of the fish in the ocean depend on the coral reef environment for their survival. The changes in water temperature and currents and changes in phytoplankton communities caused by ocean heat waves directly affect the tiniest organisms in the ocean which are the most basic links in the marine food chain.

温室效应席卷全球，海洋热浪频次居高不下，珊瑚礁群落在全球面临了新的危机：珊瑚白化。世界著名的澳大利亚大堡礁，在2016年有30%的珊瑚白化死亡，2017年又有20%白化死亡，珊瑚礁生态系统变得异常脆弱，几乎没有恢复的希望。经研究表示，2016震惊全球的大堡礁的消亡事件，与同时期的海洋热浪有密切关系。

With the greenhouse effect sweeping the whole world and the frequency of ocean heat waves remaining high, coral reef communities in the world are facing a new crisis called coral bleaching. The world-famous Great Barrier Reef in Australia saw 30% of its coral bleaching and death in 2016 and another 20% in 2017, making the reef ecosystem exceptionally fragile with little hope of recovery. Studies have indicated that the diminishment of the Great Barrier Reef, which shocked the world in 2016, is closely related to the ocean heat wave in the same period.

如若珊瑚白化无法修复，珊瑚礁消失，海洋荒漠化会席卷海洋。海洋中的营养盐十分稀少，而珊瑚的作用之一是维持着海洋中的物质循环和能量流动，珊瑚白化导致了其系统的失衡，会引起食物网的崩溃，最终会导致珊瑚礁里的鱼类消失，这便引起了海洋荒漠化。珊瑚礁最直接的功能之一，较为显著的，是造岛，建造陆地的功能，李元超介绍：“珊瑚礁是岛礁的沙质的来源，如果珊瑚礁消失，它就没有办法再来制造陆地以及补充海流对岛礁的消耗，从而岛礁受到侵蚀。”在中国南海海域，大部分岛礁都是珊瑚形成的，是从小小的珊瑚虫生长出来的岛礁。同样，太平洋上的斐济岛国，如今面临这样的岛屿危机更为迫切。

If bleached corals cannot recover and the reefs disappear, the ocean desertification will sweep the oceans. The coral bleaching will give rise to an imbalance of the marine system, which can cause a collapse of the marine food chain, thus eventually leading to the ocean desertification of the disappearance of fish from the reef, because the nutrient salts in the ocean are very scarce and one of the roles of corals is to maintain the circulation of materials and the flow of energy in the ocean. One of the most direct and notable functions of coral reefs is creating islands and lands. Li Yuanchao explains, “Coral reefs are the source of sand for the islands. If the reefs disappear, it has no more way to make lands as well as replenish the consumption of the reefs by the currents, and then the islands are eroded.” In the South China Sea, most islands and reefs are formed by tiny coral polyps. Similarly, the island nation of Fiji in the Pacific faces such an island crisis more urgently today.

图：海洋热浪杀死海草，造成百万吨二氧化碳

由于90%以上的热量来自人类，导致全球变暖进入我们的海洋，很可能海洋热浪将继续增加。面对正在向我们发出求救信号的海洋呼唤，解决办法就是阻止全球变暖、气候变化。我们真的想减轻这些海洋热浪的影响。我们迫切需要减少温室气体排放，摆脱以碳为基础的经济。对此我们应精确量化我们对于海洋生态系统的改变量，致力于提升全人类环保绿色的大局观和人文素养。

With more than 90% of the heat from humans causing global warming, it is likely that ocean heat waves will continue to increase. In the face of an ocean that is calling out to us with a distress signal, the solution is to stop global warming and climate change. We really want to mitigate the effects of these ocean heat waves. Therefore, we urgently need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, abandon the carbon-based economy and precisely quantify the amount of change we are making to the ocean ecosystem so as improve the awareness and quality of protecting environment.