Scientists said that the current increased temperatures across Europe will be followed by a long-term heat wave in the waters of the Mediterranean, which might destroy ecosystems and kill numbers of marine creatures and species in the coming weeks.
The intense heat in recent weeks has already caused wildfires and thousands of deaths in Europe, but the warmth is not limited to land.
Unusually warm air, along with shifts in ocean currents as the Mediterranean waters settle, has caused coastal waters to rise several degrees Celsius above the average for this time of year, which ranges from 24 to 26 degrees Celsius.
The Spanish Meteorological Agency said that the waters between the Spanish Balearic Islands and the Italian coast are up to 5 degrees Celsius warmer than at the same time last year, while also warning that temperatures around the Spanish coast will be 3 to 4 degrees Celsius higher until midday. August at least.
The Spanish Ports Authority said in a statement that the water temperature in Cabo de Gata, in the southeastern corner of the country, is the hottest in 10 years, reaching around 28 degrees Celsius last week.
Marine heat waves, which are less researched and studied than land heat waves, are becoming more frequent due to climate change, putting pressure on ecosystems already suffering from overfishing and plastic pollution.
Oceanologist Jean-Pierre Gattuso told Archyde.com that the water temperature near the French coastal city of Nice reached 29.2 degrees Celsius on January 25, which is regarding 3.5 degrees Celsius higher than the same day last year.
“This is a record since at least 1994, and it is very likely (it was a record from an earlier period) before that,” he said.
“The ocean and the sea are like a sponge with respect to heat,” Gattuso said. Heat waves hit the Mediterranean Sea from 2015 to 2019, which led to the mass death of marine life, according to a study conducted by the Spanish Institute of Marine Sciences this week.
But this year’s heat wave is even worse.
“It’s (ongoing) longer and more intensely,” Gattuso said. “It’s possible that death will come later in August.”
