When ocean temperatures increase, so does child malnutrition on land

A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that for every roughly three additional marine heatwaves in a 24-month span, child mortality rose 5.4 percent, with child wasting and stunting up 6.5 and 8.8 percent, in low and middle-income countries. Lead researcher Clark Gray of UNC Chapel Hill said he expected to find nothing and was surprised by the results.

The effects concentrated in countries dependent on small-scale fishing, which lack the technology to chase fish into cooler waters the way industrial fleets can. Researchers still don't know the precise mechanism — possible culprits include disrupted food chains, terrestrial heatwaves, or mosquito-borne disease — and caution the data show correlation, not proven cause.

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