This summer in particular, but for some years now, extreme heat in Europe and other Mediterranean countries has made headlines. Today let’s see together why Mediterranean Sea It heats up so fast
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Second Written by Mastrogeniassistant deputy secretary ofUnion for the Mediterranean: “Our region is the second fastest warming region in the world, as are its waters”!
Confirmation that from Barcelona to Tel Aviv, passing through Italy, the Mediterranean is warming immediately double speed compared to the global trend, comes from an article published in the journal “Reviews of Geophysics”. But not only that: researcher from the Institute of Marine Sciences in Barcelona, Joaquin Garabu, also claims that we are pushing the system too far and that a sudden intervention on the climate issue is necessary. According to a report he helped create and published in the journal Global Chance Biology, about 50 species of algae, sponges and corals have been affected by the extreme temperatures ever recorded.
But why is the Mediterranean Sea warming faster than the others?
Unfortunately, the answer is intuitive: because it is a closed sea and is only open to the Strait of Gibraltar. Some scientists, to help us better understand the situation, compare it to a bathtub
What are the consequences? There are many, but the worst are three.
According to the WWF, about 1000 alien species have already arrived in our sea and have taken the place of endemic species. To give a recent example, this is the case with blue crab, characteristic of the Atlantic coast. A real threat to the marine ecosystem, it is aggressive and eats clams, mussels, crustaceans and any fish within range, including fry (newly hatched fish) and eggs. Consider that his arrival led to the request for a national State of Emergency and created a hole of millions of euros. This is what Ansa reports Paolo Tiozzoco-chairman of the Alliance of Fishing Cooperatives.
A warmer sea puts two very important sectors for the Italian economy at serious risk: fishing and tourism
The second consequence of the increase in water temperature is the phenomenon of thermal expansion which contributes to the increase in its levels. His thisthermal expansion It is a simple natural phenomenon where a fluid subjected to higher and higher temperatures increases its volume.
The third, but no less important, consequence is this a warmer sea absorbs less carbon dioxide which therefore remains in the atmosphere and, as if in a vicious circle, contributes to its warming even more, in the known process of “global warming”.
Federica Gasbarro works with The Wom independently and is in no way associated with the advertisements that may appear in this content.