Scientists warn that an “unheard of” marine heatwave in the waters off Ireland and Great Britain poses a significant threat to marine wildlife and plant life.

As the Guardian reports, the emerging El Niño conditions in the North Atlantic and North Sea have seen sea temperatures rise as much as 5C above normal in some areas — smashing regional records.

Prof Daniela Schmidt of the University of Bristol says the current situation shows “the power of the combination of human-induced warming and natural climate variability”.

She adds: “In other parts of the world, we have seen several mass mortalities of marine plants and animals caused by ocean heatwave which have caused hundreds of millions of pounds of losses, in fisheries income, carbon storage, cultural values and habitat loss.

“As long as we are not dramatically cutting emissions, these heatwaves will continue to destroy our ecosystems. But as this is happening below the surface of the ocean, it will go unnoticed.”

The Guardian has more on the story HERE.