DUBLIN: The Mediterranean Sea recorded its highest average temperature for July last month, reaching 27 degrees Celsius, while a sea buoy off Mallorca measured temperatures of 33 degrees Celsius in early August, highlighting the severity of the marine heatwave.
An analysis by the World Weather Attribution group, which uses peer-reviewed methods to assess the contribution of climate change to extreme weather events, found that human-induced global warming has increased Mediterranean Sea temperatures by about 2 degrees Celsius and temperatures in Western European seas by approximately 1.4 degrees Celsius.
The findings indicate that the extreme marine heat experienced this year across parts of Europe cannot be explained by natural climate variability alone.
The analysis found that the record-breaking temperatures recorded in the eastern and western Mediterranean, along the Bay of Biscay and the Iberian coast would have been “almost impossible” without human-caused climate change.
Climate scientist Claire Bergen of Ireland’s Maynooth University, one of the researchers involved in the analysis, warned that the unprecedented warming could have far-reaching consequences for coastal communities.
She said the rising temperatures threaten to reshape marine ecosystems on which coastal populations depend for food and income, while also increasing the risk of extreme and damaging weather events on land.
Europe’s seas have been exposed to the same exceptional heat that affected large parts of the continent this summer, adding further concern over the effects of prolonged warming on marine life and coastal environments.