According to Spanish researchers: the Mediterranean Sea is getting warmer and saltier

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Cooling was once. According to a study, the Mediterranean Sea is warming faster and saltier.

Water is warming as a result of climate change in the western Mediterranean at a rate of about two degrees per 100 years and in some places such as L’Estartit on the Costa Brava as much as three degrees per century, write scientists from the Spanish marine research institute ICM-CSIC in the “Journal of Marine Science and Engineering”.

The results are based on the evaluation of long-term data from the past 30 years and have been measured at all water depths.

The sea level is rising almost 3 millimeters per year

For example, the salinity of the Mediterranean Sea is higher than that of the Atlantic Ocean, because more water evaporates than comes from rivers that flow into the inland sea.

The exchange with the Atlantic Ocean is very limited, as the Strait of Gibraltar is a very close connection. In addition, it turned out that the sea level rises on average about 2.8 millimeters per year. Since the 1990s, there has been a significant acceleration in this development.

According to other studies, the increase in water temperature and salinity is endangering biodiversity in the Mediterranean. In the warmer waters of the Mediterranean, there are now nearly 1,000 non-native species spreading further north and west each year, displacing native species, the environmental organization WWF wrote.

Some endemic species such as the Adriatic sturgeon and the deep-sea cardinalfish are threatened with extinction. Huge jellyfish are a problem for fishermen and holidaymakers and the climate crisis increases the risk of extreme weather. (SDA)

Source: Blick