The Mediterranean Sea is warming up faster and faster and is also becoming increasingly salty, according to a study by a team of Spanish scientists.
The water is warming at a rate of about 2 degrees Celsius per 100years in the western Mediterranean and in some places, the Spanish marine research institute ICM-CSIC team said in a study published in the Journal of Marine Science and Engineering. In some places, such as near L'Estartit on the Costa Brava, the figure is even higher at 3degrees per century.
Their results are based on the evaluation of long-term data from the past 30 years and were measured in all water depths.
The salinity of the Mediterranean is higher than that of the Atlantic because more water evaporates than is added from rivers flowing in to the inland sea.
The exchange of waters with the Atlantic is very limited because the Strait of Gibraltar is very narrow.
Also, sea levels are rising by an average of about 2.8 millimetres per year. The accelerated rising of sea levels has been observed since the 1990s.
Other studies show the increase in water temperature and salinity endangers biodiversity in the Mediterranean.
In the warmer waters of the Mediterranean, there are now almost 1,000non-native species that are spreading further north and west every year, displacing native species, according to the environmental organization WWF. — dpa
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