Spanish researchers reported to AFP that the Mediterranean Sea experienced its highest temperature ever recorded on Monday during an unprecedented heatwave.
According to the Institute of Marine Sciences in Spain, data analysed from the European Earth observation program Copernicus’ satellites revealed a new daily median sea surface temperature record of 28.71°C.
This surpassed the previous record of 28.25°C set on August 23, 2003.
Although these findings have yet to be officially confirmed by Copernicus, the organisation previously noted that in early June, global temperatures had already surpassed pre-industrial levels by more than 1.5°C, a critical threshold set in the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit global warming.
The rising temperatures in the Mediterranean pose a severe threat to marine life. Past heatwaves from 2015 to 2019 led to significant decimation of around 50 species, including corals and molluscs.
The Mediterranean region has been identified as a climate change hotspot, experiencing record temperatures in July.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a UN body, has warned that marine ecosystems in the Mediterranean have undergone drastic changes since the 1980s, marked by declining biodiversity and the introduction of invasive species.
Experts from the IPCC caution that if global warming exceeds the 1.5°C target, over 20 percent of fish and invertebrates caught in the Mediterranean could disappear by 2060. These alarming trends highlight the urgent need to address climate change’s impact on the delicate marine ecosystems in the region.
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