The increase of temperature in the Mediterranean is affecting marine life negatively, a group of scientists who studied the sea water in the area said.
The situation is “extremely worrying,” says Joaquim Garabo, a researcher at the Institute of Marine Sciences in Barcelona. We push the system too far. We have to take action on climate issues as soon as possible.”
Garrabou is part of a team that recently published a report on heat waves in the Mediterranean between 2015 and 2019. The report says these phenomena led to a “massive mortality” of marine species.
About 50 species, including corals, sponges and seaweeds, were affected along thousands of kilometers of Mediterranean coasts, according to the study published in the journal Global Change Biology.
The situation in the eastern Mediterranean basin is particularly dire, since temperatures often exceed 30 C. The coasts of Cyprus, Lebanon and Syria are the three with the highest temperatures.
