The Mediterranean Sea is in flames

A measurement buoy in front of the island of Dragonera, in Mallorca, has made all alarms jump. The Mediterranean Sea is almost as hot as a removable pool. And the consequences for the weather, the population and the ecosystems of Spain are already being noticed.

A sea dyed red. The Dragonera Boya registered 30.55 ºC on the coast of Mallorca on June 30. According to him Meteorologist Duncan Wingenof Meteoredes, it is a historical fact: the Mediterranean had never exceeded 30 ºC at a similar station for a month of June. But the record also extends to other areas of the Balearic Islands, such as the Boya de Maó, in Menorca, which beat its monthly record with a measurement of 29.31 ° C on June 24.

The anomalies map Shared by Aemet This Tuesday confirms that the Mediterranean lives an unprecedented heat wave: water is between 5 and more hot than normal for this time of year. An immense dark red spot covers the Balearic coast, and the waters exceed the 26 ° C, with spikes between 28 and 30 ° C, such as that reached in Dragonera.

Tropical and super -torment nights. The First consequence of this hot sea It has been a drastic increase in tropical nights (with minimum of 20 ° C) and, worse, of torrid nights (with minimums of 25 ° C). In June, the port of Palma beat its record with 27 tropical nights and 4 torrids. In the Capdepera lighthouse, which had never registered a torrid night in June, they have been five.

Heat involves a risk to people’s health, but experts Like the physicist German JJ They warn of a major threat: an extremely warm Mediterranean acts as a fuel for superhourmen. By evaporating more water and transferring more energy to the atmosphere, it enhances the formation of much more virulent storms and with greater capacity to generate large hailas happened in the episode of August 2022.

Temperatures registered by the European Sentinel-3 satellite. Image: that

An ecosystem on the edge of collapse. This situation is part of a June 2025 that has been the most anomalously warm of the historical series in peninsular Spain, with an average 3.5 ° C temperature above normal. The earth and the sea feed on a vicious circle of heat while, under the surface, there is a silent catastrophe.

Accelerated warming is causing the “tropicalization” of the Mediterranean, radically altering its biodiversity. He Institut de Ciències del Mar He has sighted warm waters, such as the parrot fish (previously confined to the south), in the Balearic Islands and Almería. It also warns of early jellyfish proliferation, whose life cycle accelerates by heat. And of the massive death of corals and meadows of Posidonia, a key ecosystem for the health of the Mediterranean.

A sick sea and without defenses. Everything indicates that this marine heat wave is not an isolated event. The Mediterranean is heated 20% faster than the world average and suffers endemic problems of overweight, pollution and invasive species. To top it off, the traditional winter, which served as a recovery period, is disappearing, which has left the sea without the ability to regenerate. We pass from one summer to another, more and more intense, without rest.

30 degrees to June 30 in a buoy in Mallorca is much more than a fact. It is the most obvious symptom of a meteorological problem that is already here and that redefines our climate, threatens our ecosystems and forces us to prepare for a new reality of extremes.

Image | Aemet

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