The Mediterranean is a pressure pot
Water temperature is not just a bathing thing. The Mediterranean Sea is again much hotter than would correspond, even at this point of the year; And that is a problem. The ecological balance of the species that inhabit it depends on the waters of this sea: its waters also perform Again, red live. After some weeks of thermal reliefMediterranean surface waters reach thermal anomalies similar to those we saw in the middle of June. As on that occasion, our coasts are in the eye of the hurricane: two Spanish buoys measured these days temperatures Above 30º CESLIUS. The extreme measurements of these buoys seem not to be something punctual. According to the data based on satellite observations Published by the coastal observation and prediction system of the Balearic Islands (Socib), the average temperature is this surface sea is 27.05º. This implies that the sea is 1.36º above what would correspond on these dates. As happened in June, the Western Mediterranean is the “engine” of this change. In this region of the sea, the average temperature is 26.66º, which represents a thermal anomaly of 1.76º. The anomaly is again so high that we find ourselves, as also happened in July, above the 90th percentile in the historical measurement. Hot points. In our environment, there are two “hot points”, areas where thermal anomaly is even greater. The northwestern Mediterranean is one of these points: With an average temperature of 26.77º, this environment is located 2.79º above average and also above the 90th of observations. The second hot point is the sea of Alborán. The temperature in this basin is 25.67º. This temperature is 2.17 above the average and, again, also above the 90th percentile of the historical observations. On land and sea.The evolution of the surface temperatures of the Mediterranean Sea corresponds, to a certain degree, to what we are seeing in the atmosphere: an extremely warm June fired the temperatures also in the water, before the thermal relief of Julio relax the situation without reversing it. Now, a new heat wave is weating more than the air, and maritime temperature seems to be responding in chord. A risk to all. But the relationship between atmospheric conditions and maritime temperature is more complex. And it occurs in both directions, that is, the sea temperature also affects what happens in the clouds. In this sense, a warm Mediterranean implies a severe risk. This heat implies the concentration of thermal energy in the sea, a thermal energy capable of generating convective currents in certain circumstances. These waters also transfer moisture to the atmosphere, a humidity that, with the arrival of storms can be downloaded in the form of intense rainfall as has happened in recent months. Ecological balance Of course, change in temperatures can also affect maritime life. The seas of our environment “tropically”, which means that they are not only warmer, but also more welcoming with respect to the fauna and flora that traditionally inhabits the tropics. And less cozy for local fauna and flora, which must deal with not only with excessive heat, but also with the arrival of new predators to the waters that inhabit. In Xataka | The maps that explain why Castilla y León have become the “zero zone” of forest fires Image | Henning Schröder / ECMWF
