poisonous

A few days ago We asked ourselves If the stabilization of the Mediterranean temperature responded to a long -term trend or if it was rather a transitory event, a brief cooling capable of tempering the waters of a sea that is more than one degree above its average for these dates of the year. The latest data remind us that we are facing a long -term problem. Seas tropicalizing. The seas of our environment, such as the Mediterranean or the Cantabrian, are immersed In a process that some already call “Tropicalization”This process refers to a series of changes in marine ecosystems derived from the increase in water temperature in subtropical principles. Starting from the beginning. The planet’s seas are gaining temperature. They do it little by little and irregularlybut some estimates talk about a 0.27 ° Celsius increase By decade on average. According to data C3S (Copernicus Climate Change Service), the month of July was one of the warmest of those that are recorded in regards to the surface temperature of the seas, at 0.12º to beat the record. This increase in temperatures has effects of a very diverse nature. It can affect, for example, marine currents, Arctic ice, or even at the temperature of the atmosphere and air circulation. And in addition, it can also affect marine ecosystems. Visible change. Changes in currents, ice or atmosphere can be difficult to perceive for the human eye, but some of the changes in marine ecosystems, not so much. There is much that occurs under the surface of the sea, but some of these changes have their reflection on our coasts, and that is what we are seeing now, the arrival of new species to our coasts, both sea invertebrates and fish, some of these species, dangerous. It is the example of two of the species we have heard about this summer, the Portuguese caravel (Physalia Physalis) and The blue dragon (Glaucus atlanticus). The Portuguese caravel belongs to the same edge as the jellyfish and can, due to their appearance, be confused with one. However, the effect of its poison goes beyond the efficient effect that jellyfish often causes. Portuguese caravel is part of the blue dragon diet, a mollusk with the ability to “recycle” the poison of its victims and use it as a defense mechanism. Another example of poisonous species that threaten to approach our coasts is The lionfish (Pterois Volitans). It is considered that the path of entry of this fish could be as an ornamental species for aquariumbut there are also those who warn of their possible expansion through the Mediterranean, via the Suez Canal, from the Red Sea. Risk, not only for bathers. The fact that these are poisonous species that can involve serious risks for bathers affected by their toxins, the risk associated with marine tropicalization goes beyond the bites of these animals. Species such as blue crab (Callinectes sapidus), have begun to expand through areas of the Mediterranean, putting local ecosystems in check with its voracity and the absence of natural predators. Algae also does not miss the opportunity to expand their habitat in our waters. The best example of this is Asian algae (Rugulopterix Okamurae), an increasingly present species on our coasts, whose impact reaches disparate coastal strips, From Galicia to Tarifa. The Mediterranean, again burning. We pointed at the beginning that, after a brief impas in which the sea It was close to thermal stabilizationthe Mediterranean temperature has firing again. Although the thermal anomaly of 2.26º has not yet been reached that We saw almost two months agothis anomaly has passed in just four days (from August 7 to 11) from 0.54º to 1.16º, According to data of socib (Coastal observation and prediction system of the Balearic Islands). The “rebound” has been greater in the Western Mediterranean, where in mid -June the thermal anomaly was around 2.65, before stabilizing up to 0.29º. The new increase places the anomaly in 1.27º, almost a degree of increase in days. In Xataka | “The Mediterranean already has only three stations”: the European Observatory of the drought confirms that winter is dying Image | LPT2000 / Tao Taylor