The average water temperature in July 2025, according to researchers, was the warmest since observations began in the Mediterranean Sea. Therefore, vacationers in Greece, Italy, or Spain are more often deprived of refreshing swimming. The constant rise in temperature creates serious risks for the environment.
This is reported by UNN with reference to Phys.
Details
The Mediterranean Sea, similar to the Baltic or Black Sea, is a semi-enclosed sea and is connected to the world ocean only through the Strait of Gibraltar. As a result, the Mediterranean Sea heats up faster and acidifies more strongly than the open ocean, writes Phys, citing the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres (a German research organization).
What the world community, governments, and businesses should pay attention to now.
Mediterranean Sea temperature continues to rise to record levels
The key reasons for the warming are identified as problems in the context of climate change.
What is known from current observations:
July 2025, with an average water temperature of 26.9 °C, was the warmest since the beginning of the study of the Mediterranean Sea
Scientists currently call the Mediterranean Sea "a hotbed of climate change." According to experts, the current warming seriously threatens marine and coastal habitats.
This is no less important a problem than overfishing, pollution, and habitat destruction.
The continuous rise in temperature, sea level, and ocean acidity creates serious environmental risks in and around the Mediterranean Sea
The impact of climate change on marine and coastal ecosystems in the Mediterranean region is being investigated, in particular, by representatives of the French Laboratory of Planetology and Geosciences and the University of Angers.
The research team analyzed 131 scientific papers on the Mediterranean Sea published before August 2023.
Meta-studies are being conducted based on recognized IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) climate scenarios.
The research also draws on the Initiative for Research on Climate Change and Environmental Degradation in the Mediterranean Region (MedECC). In 2020, the initiative published the first Assessment Report on the Mediterranean Region, titled MAR1.
Among the conclusions:
Between 1982 and 2019, the sea surface temperature had already risen by 1.3°C, while the global increase was only 0.6°C.
What happens in the Mediterranean often foreshadows changes that can be expected elsewhere. Therefore, the Mediterranean Sea acts as an early warning system for processes that will later affect the world's oceans.
If international climate protection goals are achieved in the coming years, some environmental changes can still be slowed down.
Scientists illustrate the research, including average emission scenarios.
But even if emissions stabilize over the next few years due to moderate climate policies - even in this case, the Mediterranean Sea is expected to warm by another 0.6–1.3°C (compared to current values) - in 2050 and 2100, respectively.
Scientists emphasize that it is still possible to make a difference.
Every tenth of a degree matters. The political decisions made now will determine whether ecosystems in the Mediterranean Sea collapse partially or completely, or remain functional.
At the same time, it is indicated that even with moderate climate protection and an additional warming of 0.8°C, certain consequences should be expected.
Therefore, "our focus should be on minimizing the impact as low as possible," the scientist concludes.
Recall
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