The water temperature in the Mediterranean has reached 5 degrees Celsius above normal: “We have no words to describe what is happening,” say climatologists

QIn recent years, he has spoken and written more about the marine heat waves and more and more records are beaten in Europe. Very recently, the surface water temperature has reached a new record in the Mediterranean and the Canicula in Europe leaves room for new records this summer.

30 ° C measured by a marine weather beacon in balear

About these record temperatures wrote Le Monde, Ouest France and BFMTV publications.

The waters of the Mediterranean reached record temperatures for June, with over 30 ° C registered in whale. Although the impact on biodiversity is still difficult to estimate, the specialists talk about an “accelerated tropicalization” of the region.

On June 30, the surface temperature of the Mediterranean sea reached 26.04 ° C, according to satellite observations analyzed by Météo-France, a value with almost 2 ° C above the average of the 2001-2020 interval. More serious, in some areas – the coast of azure, corsica, balear – anomalies have reached +5 ° C compared to normal.

A floating beacon in the first time recorded in June a temperature of 30.5 ° C, which climbed even to 30.99 ° C on July 1.

“We have no words to describe what is happening,” says climatologist Davide Faranda, from National Center at Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in France. The meteorological maps have reached the limit of color codes – red for +3 ° C, purple for +4 ° C, black for +5 ° C. “A new staircase must be invented,” he adds, quoted by Le Monde.

A warm hoter means several tropical nights, several intense storms, but also torrential autumn rains, favored by the hot and wet air accumulated in the atmosphere.

BFMTV wrote at the end of June that the temperatures at the surface of the Mediterranean were 5 ° C above the normal values. On Saturday, there were 25 ° C in the water off the marsile, 26 ° C near the Menton and 27 ° C on the offspring.

What does the Mediterranean tropicalization mean

Due to the climatic changes caused by human intervention, the frequency of marine heat waves has doubled from 1982 until now, and their intensity has increased.

Also, according to the WWF, the Mediterranean is heated 20% faster than the global average. Thus, on August 15, 2024, the average daily temperature of the sea surface reached a record level of 28.9 ° C.

It is also observed the “tropicalization” of the Mediterranean sea, and this means that there are invasive tropical species. These fish, often very greedy, consume the resources on which local species depend, thus endangering them.

It is estimated that “almost 1,000 exotic species have already migrated into the warm waters of the Mediterranean, replacing the endemic species,” according to WWF. Some come from southeastern Mediterranean, others have migrated from the Red Sea through the Suez Canal. Fishermen meet more and more such fish that in the past did not reach the Mediterranean.

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