Predicting whether marine organisms can survive extreme weather events, such as heatwaves, requires scalable frameworks that connect multi-tiered adaptive responses. This presentation accounts for an influential conceptual framework incorporating different biological responses to heatwaves and evaluates its broader global validation. This foundational framework was originally created by investigating the physiological, molecular and behavioural responses of intertidal gastropods to atmospheric heatwaves, revealing that their survival to extreme temperatures is subject to a species-specific integration of behavioural microhabitat selection and molecular defence mechanisms. Besides, this presentation synthesizes an array of subsequent empirical literature to determine whether this framework successfully scales up and holds true across a broader spectrum of marine life, such as bivalves, crustaceans and fish. Cross-examination of laboratory and field data robustly validates this framework, confirming that species with weaker molecular defence depend largely on seeking thermal refugia in response to heatwaves, while thermally resistant species rely heavily on physiological and molecular adjustments. However, recent empirical literature also expands upon the original framework by highlighting that these integrated, adaptive responses face strict ecological tipping points as prolonged behavioural isolation often results in foraging deficits, while long-term molecular investment forces severe metabolic trade-offs that ultimately compromise growth and reproduction. By tracking how subsequent literature validates and builds upon the earlier paradigm, this presentation redefines the biological boundaries of species persistence and establishes a predictive roadmap for safeguarding vulnerable species in a rapidly warming ocean.