The average daily Mediterranean sea surface temperature set a new record in mid-August, reaching 28.9°C, surpassing the previous year’s record, Spain’s main marine research center announced.
According to climatebook.gr, the highest prices are found in the central and eastern regions of the Mediterranean basin. The sea surface temperature in these areas ranges from 29°C – 31°C, while the deviations from the normal levels for the season locally exceed 5°C in the Adriatic Sea and 2-4°C in the southeast. In addition, high values of the sea temperature are also observed in the Ionian sea with the temperature locally reaching 29°C.
As Dimitris Velaoras, Ph.D. in Physical Oceanography and principal researcher of the Hellenic Center for Marine Research (ELKETHE), reports to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency, studies carried out since the 1980s show that in the part of the Aegean and also in the area east of Crete , “in the Levantine that is”, there is an increase in sea surface temperature of the order of 0.5 degrees per decade. “The permanent and continuous rise in the temperature of the sea surface is more intense in the Mediterranean and especially in its eastern part, that is from the Ionian Sea and east. The Levantine and Aegean system appears to have a surface temperature rise of about 0.4 to 0.5 degrees Celsius per decade. In the lower strata there is also an increase there, but it is much smaller”, explains Mr. Velaoras to APE-MPE.
At the same time, Mediterranean Marine Heat Waves are becoming more and more frequent, a phenomenon which, however, according to Mr. Velaora, is of short duration. As he points out, the heat waves in the atmosphere affect the first 10 meters of the sea surface, increasing its temperature by 5 to 6 degrees.
Alien species from the Red Sea invade the Mediterranean
One of the main consequences of the increase in the surface temperature of the Mediterranean Sea is the entry of alien species from the Red Sea disrupting and affecting essentially the entire ecosystem.
“Until now the species that lived in Erythra if they were somehow transported to the Mediterranean could not live because the environment was colder than the usual environment that these animals are made to survive. But with the rise in temperature in recent years, marine species pass from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean and find an environment where they can grow.
The most classic example is the lionfish and the sea bream, as well as some species of sea urchins as well as the sardelogavr”, points out Mr. Velaoras and adds that if the conditions in the Mediterranean begin to “approach” those of Erythra, which has a temperature that you can get up to 35 degrees, then whatever fish comes through the ships, from Suez to the Mediterranean will be able to find a good habitat to live in.”
“Sustained temperature rise may make deep water oxygenation more difficult”
As Mr. Velaoras points out, on the one hand, the continuous rise in temperature affects ecosystems, on the other hand, on a large scale, it can also affect the stratification, i.e., make it difficult to oxygenate the deep waters. This, as he explains, means that it is difficult to move the water from above, below, in a cold winter, which can lead after a few decades to the reduction of oxygen. “If it decreases too much you will have a problem again in the habitats. That is, it will not be possible to sustain life in the deeper layers. There is a risk that in the coming decades, if the rise of the sea continues, this stratification will become more intense, that is, it will be more difficult for the surface waters to go to the bottom and oxygenate it”, he says.
Along with the increase in the temperature of the sea surface, the salinity of the water is also observed to increase, while the phenomenon of the rise of the sea level is also intensifying, to an extent that is not yet alarming.
“For me the most critical thing about warming is what’s happening on a large scale because of climate change, which is the rise of 0.5 degrees per decade. “Marine heat waves are important, but they are shorter-term episodes, although of course they can have very significant effects on a local scale”, underlines Mr. Velaoras to APE-MPE.
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