Octopus Invasion in English Channel Shows Risks From Warming Seas

Some English fishermen have hit the jackpot this season, hauling in tons of octopus, but the invasion of the eight-legged molluscs also highlights the threat from marine heat waves.

Persistent high-pressure weather patterns this spring accelerated the heating of an unusually warm North Atlantic, blocking westerly winds and smothering currents that stir up colder water layers deep in the ocean, said Paul Moore, a climatologist with Ireland’s Met Éireann.