By 2100 the overall level of the Mediterranean could rise between as a result of the effects of climate change. This could have adverse effects on populations across the Mediterranean: Coastal ecosystems also appear to be threatened by sea level rise, especially enclosed seas such as the Baltic, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. These seas have only small and primarily east–west movement corridors, which may restrict northward displacement of organisms in these areas. Sea level rise for the next century (2100) could be between and and temperature shifts of a mere 0.05–0.1 °C in the deep sea are sufficient to induce significant changes in species richness and functional diversity.
Sea-level rise
Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea | Sea-level rise
Yes, by 2100 the overall level could rise. No, but by 2100 the overall level of the Mediterranean could rise between as a result of the effects of climate change. Coastal ecosystems also appear to be threatened by sea level rise, especially enclosed seas such as the Baltic, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. By 2100 the overall level of the Mediterranean could rise
what ocean zone does the sperm whale live in
user
They are relatively abundant from the poles to the equator and are found in all the oceans.
assistant
where does this whale species get its name from?
user
It is a truncation of "spermaceti whale".
assistant
what does it look like?
user
It is distinguished by its large tooth.
assistant
can it make sounds?
user
Yes a "creak" and a "coda" are some of sound names used as per the situation they are in.
assistant
what do they feed on?
user
They feed on several species, notably the giant squid, colossal squid, octopuses and fishes such as demersal rays. However, their diet is mainly medium-sized squid.
assistant
are they under threat of extinction?
user
Currently, entanglement in fishing nets and collisions with ships represent the greatest threats. Other threats include ingestion of marine debris, ocean noise, and chemical pollution.
assistant
can you name any water body in particular where this whale is found?
user
Mediterranean Sea
assistant
where is this located?
user
it is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant.
assistant
what type of climate is experienced here?
user
It enjoys a hot-summer climate. However, most of its southeastern coast has a hot desert climate, and much of Spain's coast has a cold semi-arid climate.
assistant
is there a rise in the level of the sea?
user
By 2100 the overall level of the Mediterranean could rise between as a result of the effects of climate change. This could have adverse effects on populations across the Mediterranean: Coastal ecosystems also appear to be threatened by sea level rise, especially enclosed seas such as the Baltic, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. These seas have only small and primarily east–west movement corridors, which may restrict northward displacement of organisms in these areas. Sea level rise for the next century (2100) could be between and and temperature shifts of a mere 0.05–0.1 °C in the deep sea are sufficient to induce significant changes in species richness and functional diversity.
Mediterranean Sea | Sea-level rise
Much of the Mediterranean coast enjoys a hot-summer Mediterranean climate. However, most of its southeastern coast has a hot desert climate, and much of Spain's eastern (Mediterranean) coast has a cold semi-arid climate. Although they are rare, tropical cyclones occasionally form in the Mediterranean Sea, typically in September–November.
Mediterranean Sea | Climate
Further, the altitude below sea level would result in 1.45 to 1.71 atm (1102 to 1300 mmHg) air pressure, further increasing heat stress. Although it was probably quite dry in the Basin, there is no direct way to measure how much drier it would have been. One can imagine that areas not covered by the remaining brine would have been very dry. Today the evaporation from the Mediterranean Sea supplies moisture that falls in frontal storms, but without such moisture, the Mediterranean climate that we associate with Italy, Greece, and the Levant would be limited to the Iberian Peninsula and the western Maghreb.
Messinian salinity crisis | Relationship to climate
The sea level on earth regularly rises and falls due to climatic changes. During cold periods more of the Earth's water is stored as ice in glaciers while during warm periods it is released and sea levels rise to cover more land. Sea levels are currently quite high, while just 18,000 years ago during the Pleistocene ice age they were quite low. Global warming may result in further rises in the future, which presents a risk to coastal cities as most would be flooded by only small rises. As sea levels rise, fjords and rias form. Fjords are flooded glacial valleys and rias are flooded river valleys.
Coastal geography | Sea level changes (eustatic change)
Climate scientists expect the rate to further accelerate during the 21st century. Projecting future sea level is challenging, due to the complexity of many aspects of the climate system. As climate research into past and present sea levels leads to improved computer models, projections have consistently increased. In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projected a high end estimate of through 2099, but their 2014 report raised the high-end estimate to about . A number of later studies have concluded that a global sea level rise of this century is "physically plausible". A conservative estimate of the long-term projections is that each Celsius degree of temperature rise triggers a sea level rise of approximately 2.3 meters (4.2 ft/degree Fahrenheit) over a period of two millennia (2,000 years): an example of climate inertia.
Sea level rise | Introduction
Nonetheless, one can study the forces at play in the atmosphere to arrive at a good speculation of the climate. As winds blew across the "Mediterranean Sink", they would heat or cool adiabatically with altitude. In the empty Mediterranean Basin, the summertime temperatures would probably have been extremely high even during ice age maxima. Using the dry adiabatic lapse rate of around per kilometer, the maximum possible temperature of an area below sea level would be about warmer than it would be at sea level. Under this extreme assumption, maxima would be near at the lowest points of the dry abyssal plain, permitting no permanent life but extremophiles.
Messinian salinity crisis | Relationship to climate
Rising seas has also been tied to an increased risk from tsunamis, potentially affecting coastal cities in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. One of the areas in danger is Venice. The city is located in the delta of the Po and Piave rivers on the islands. Sea level rise causes an increase in frequency and magnitude of floodings in the city that already spent more than $6 billion on the flood barrier system. While some special measures have been taken in coastal areas to deal with the effects of storm surges, not much has been done to deal with the increased storm surges caused by rising sea levels.
Sea level rise | Present effects
The sea level has been as high as 1 metre over the norm. But in days where there is no wind, the waves typically will not be higher than maximum over normal sea level. Due to the proximity of the town to the coast, sea fog is not an uncommon occurrence. In the winter, the air temperature can fall as low as 1.6 degrees, but in the summer, it can reach over 25 degrees Celsius.
Hirtshals | Climate
The climate is maritime Mediterranean, with long dry hot summers and short mild winters. In winter a strong wind is characteristic, especially on the plains, while there is not much risk of frosts or fog. The average annual rainfall is 425 mm (17 inches), falling mainly in autumn is the form of violent storms.
Pla i Llevant (DO) | Climate
This could mean rapid sea level rise of up to per year by the end of the century. The study also concluded that the Paris climate agreement emissions scenario, if met, would result in a median of sea level rise by 2100.
Sea level rise | Projections for the 21st century
The "Csb" warm-summer Mediterranean climate is found in Galicia and the western areas of Castilla y Leon. Coastal Mediterranean region is marked by Leveche winds: hot, dry, easterly or southeasterly air currents that originate over North Africa. Periods of these winds, which sometimes carry fine Saharan dust, are more common in spring and are associated with a sudden, usually short-lived, increase in temperature. A cooler easterly wind, the Levante, funnels between the Sistema Penibetico and the Atlas Mountains of North Africa. These easterly winds are the ones which most influence the Mediterranean climate. The most populous city with Csb climate in Spain is Vigo.
Climate of Spain | Warm Summer Mediterranean climate
For at least the last 100 years, sea level has been rising at an average rate of about per year. Most of this rise can be attributed to the increase in temperature of the sea and the resulting slight thermal expansion of the upper of sea water. Additional contributions, as much as one-quarter of the total, come from water sources on land, such as melting snow and glaciers and extraction of groundwater for irrigation and other agricultural and human uses.
Sea level | Recent changes
Frequent cold mountain wave wind situations during winter associated with cold high pressure systems over the mainland prevail in the innermost Bay at Risan and vegetational zones are compressed by the impact of bora. In addition the thermophylic communities of maquies and phrygana formations show the noticeable absence of some mediterranean species.
Iris orjenii | Climate
Because of the short residence time of waters, the Mediterranean Sea is considered a hot-spot for climate change effects. Deep water temperatures have increased by between 1959 and 1989. According to climate projections, the Mediterranean Sea could become warmer. The decrease in precipitation over the region could lead to more evaporation ultimately increasing the Mediterranean Sea salinity. Because of the changes in temperature and salinity, the Mediterranean Sea may become more stratified by the end of the 21st century, with notable consequences on water circulation and biogeochemistry.
Mediterranean Sea | Climate change
The net water influx from the Atlantic Ocean is ca. 70,000 m³/s or . Without this Atlantic water, the sea level of the Mediterranean Sea would fall at a rate of about 1 m per year.
Mediterranean Sea | Oceanography
Modern day calanques along the Mediterranean Sea are steep-sided valleys that the Holocene (Flandrian) marine transgression partially submerged to form cliff-edged inlets. These valleys were either incised by rivers or created by cave collapse as karstic dry valleys when sea level was lower than present. Along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, some of the valleys, which were flooded to form calanques, might date back to the Messinian salinity crisis between 5.96 and 5.32 million years ago. During this period of time, the Mediterranean Sea became isolated from the Atlantic Ocean and its sea level dropped at least below the level of the Atlantic Ocean.
Calanque | Geology
Much of these forests and shrublands have been altered beyond recognition by thousands of years of human habitation. There are now very few relatively intact natural areas in what was once a heavily wooded region.
Mediterranean Sea | Shift to a "Mediterranean climate"
The inland areas of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Central Plateau, have a "Csa" or "Csb" Mediterranean climates with greater seasonal differences than the coast. The summers are usually hotter than in the coast, regularly exceeding . By contrast, there are low temperatures in winter, from cool to cold winters, with temperatures below not being uncommon. At cities with altitude above 1000m like Álava or Segovia, the temperatures under are not uncommon, dropping up to or more during Arctic cold waves. The cold increases the higher the altitude is. These are often accompanied by moderate snowfall. Although it rarely rains during summer, there is often heavy rainfall in spring and autumn.
Climate of Spain | Inland Hot and Warm Summer Mediterranean climates
The end of the Miocene also marked a change in the climate of the Mediterranean basin. Fossil evidence from that period reveals that the larger basin had a humid subtropical climate with rainfall in the summer supporting laurel forests. The shift to a "Mediterranean climate" occurred largely within the last three million years (the late Pliocene epoch) as summer rainfall decreased. The subtropical laurel forests retreated; and even as they persisted on the islands of Macaronesia off the Atlantic coast of Iberia and North Africa, the present Mediterranean vegetation evolved, dominated by coniferous trees and sclerophyllous trees and shrubs with small, hard, waxy leaves that prevent moisture loss in the dry summers.
Mediterranean Sea | Shift to a "Mediterranean climate"
Tide gauges and satellite altimetry suggest an increase in sea level of 1.5–3 mm/yr over the past 100 years. The IPCC predicts that by 2081-2100, global warming will lead to a sea level rise of 260 to 820 mm.
Physical oceanography | Sea level change
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimate global mean sea-level rise from 1990 to 2100 to be between nine and eighty eight centimetres. It is also predicted that with climate change there will be an increase in the intensity and frequency of storm events such as hurricanes. This suggests that coastal flooding from storm surges will become more frequent with sea level rise. A rise in sea level alone threatens increased levels of flooding and permanent inundation of low-lying land as sea level simply may exceed the land elevation. This therefore indicates that coastal flooding associated with sea level rise will become a significant issue into the next 100 years especially as human populations continue to grow and occupy the coastal zone.
Coastal flooding | Sea level rise
As temperatures increase, glaciers and ice sheets melt and the ocean expands which causes a rise in sea levels. Sea levels have risen by about 23 cm since 1880 and are currently rising at around 3.2 mm each year. It is difficult to predict amounts of sea-level rise over the next century, although the ice sheets are melting earlier than predicted which makes a high-end scenario of 2 metres of sea-level rise by 2100 increasingly plausible. If the entire Greenland ice sheet were to melt, the world's oceans could rise by more than 6 metres. In the past, at times when the Earth has been 6°C above the pre-industrial baseline, sea levels were 20 metres higher than today.
Climate apocalypse | Sea-level rise
Rising sea levels is one of the flow-on effects of climate change, resulting from warming water and melting ice sheets. Measuring sea level rise is a complicated affair, however the IPCC have projected an increase in global mean sea level of between 0.44m and 0.74m by 2100. For low-lying coastal islands such as Male', in the Maldives, a sea level rise of 0.5 metres would inundate 15 per cent of the island by 2025, and flood half of it by 2100. As 42 per cent of the population lives within 100m within the coastline, even partial flooding is likely to result in drowning, injury and loss of life.
Human rights and climate change | Right to life
There are a number of factors affecting rising sea levels, including the thermal expansion of seawater, the melting of glaciers and ice sheets on land, and possibly human changes to groundwater storage. The consensus of many studies of coastal tide gauge records is that during the past century sea level has risen worldwide at an average rate of 1–2 mm/yr reflecting a net flux of heat into the surface of the land and oceans. Corresponding studies based on satellite altimetry shows that this rate has increased to closer to 3 mm/yr during the more completely monitored past 20 years. A recent review of the literature suggests that 30% of the sea level rise since 1993 is due to thermal expansion and 55% due to continental ice melt, both resulting from warming global temperatures.
Effects of climate change on oceans | Coasts
A 2015 study by sea level rise experts concluded that based on MIS 5e data, sea level rise could accelerate in the coming decades, with a doubling time of 10, 20 or 40 years. The study abstract explains: A 2018 study based on cave formations in the Mediterranean Sea found sea level rise of up to 6 meters, noting "The results suggest that if the pre-industrial temperature will be surpassed by 1.5 to 2°C, sea level will respond and rise 2 to 6 meters (7 to 20 feet) above present sea level." Evidence from Bahamas and Bermuda suggest powerful storm activity at the time, strong enough for wave-transported megaboulders, lowland chevron storm ridges, and wave runup deposits.
Marine Isotope Stage 5 | Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5e
Most of the additional heat trapped in the Earth's climate system by global warming is stored in oceans. They store more than 90% of the extra heat and act as a buffer against the effects of global warming. The heat needed to raise an average temperature increase of the entire world ocean by 0.01 °C would increase the atmospheric temperature by approximately 10 °C . Thus, a small change in the mean temperature of the ocean represents a very large change in the total heat content of the climate system. When the ocean gains heat, the water expands and sea level rises.
Sea level rise | Ocean heating
"Sea level is rising more rapidly along the Delaware coast than in most coastal areas because Delaware is sinking. If the oceans and atmosphere continue to warm, sea level is likely to rise between sixteen inches and four feet along the Delaware coast in the next century. As sea level rises, the lowest dry lands are submerged and become either tidal wetland or open water. Wetlands can createtheir own land and keep pace with a slowly rising sea. But if sea level rises three feet or more in the next century, most existing tidal wetlands in Delaware are unlikely to keep pace but will instead become tidal mud flats or shallow open water.
Climate change in Delaware | Rising seas and retreating shores
As for Spain, the reference to measure heights below or above sea level is placed in Alicante. Elsewhere in Europe vertical elevation references (European Vertical Reference System) are made to the Amsterdam Peil elevation, which dates back to the 1690s.
Sea level | Measurement
IPCC (2007a:5) reported that since 1961, global average sea level had risen at an average rate of 1.8 [1.3 to 2.3] mm/yr. Between 1993 and 2003, the rate increased above the previous period to 3.1 [2.4 to 3.8] mm/yr. IPCC (2007a) were uncertain whether the increase in rate from 1993 to 2003 was due to natural variations in sea level over the time period, or whether it reflected an increase in the underlying long-term trend. IPCC (2007a:13, 14) projected sea level rise to the end of the 21st century using the SRES emission scenarios. Across the six SRES marker scenarios, sea level was projected to rise by 18 to 59 cm (7.1 to 23.2 inches).
Physical impacts of climate change | Sea level rise
If this is the case, then since the writing of , the region has experienced either soil rebound or a sea-level fall. Though not indicative of sea-level change, or speculation of such, during the later-empire many Roman ports suffered from what contemporary writers described as 'silting'. The constant need to dredge ports became a heavy burden on the treasury and some have speculated that this expense significantly contributed to the eventual collapse of the empire. Roman salt works in Essex, England, today are located at the five-metre contour, implying this was the coastline. These observations only indicate the extent of silting and soil rebound affecting coastline change since the writing of .
De architectura | Sea level change
The early Holocene sea level rise (EHSLR), which began c.10,000 BC, tailed off during the 6th millennium. Global water levels had risen by about 60 metres due to deglaciation of ice masses since the end of the Last Ice Age. Accelerated rises in sea level rise, called meltwater pulses, occurred three times during the EHSLR. The last one, Meltwater Pulse 1C, which peaked c. 6000 BC, produced a rise of 6.5 metres in only 140 years. It is believed that the cause was a major ice sheet collapse in Antarctica. Approximately 8,000 years ago (c. 6000 BC), a massive volcanic landslide off Mount Etna, Sicily, caused a megatsunami that devastated the eastern Mediterranean coastline on the continents of Asia, Africa and Europe.
6th millennium BC | Environmental changes
If all the ice on land and at the poles melted, sea levels would rise by more than 65 metres. Rising sea levels result in forced migration and threaten services like the Internet, since much of the Internet's key infrastructure is built near coastlines and is not built to be permanently submerged in water.
Climate apocalypse | Sea-level rise
On 20 January, significant wave heights in the western Mediterranean Sea – a measure of the mean height of the highest third of any set of waves – reached at a buoy off the coast of Valencia, breaking the previous record significant wave height for the entire Mediterranean of registered near Mahón in January 2003. Since this is a mean value, individual wave heights were even higher – a buoy near Dragonera recorded a maximum wave height of during the storm. At Vilafranca, of snow fell on 21 January alone, breaking the Spanish national record for the heaviest recorded snowfall in a 24-hour period; this previously stood at at the same site, recorded on 7 March 1968.
Storm Gloria | Records
During deglaciation between about 19–8 ka, sea level rose at extremely high rates as the result of the rapid melting of the British-Irish Sea, Fennoscandian, Laurentide, Barents-Kara, Patagonian, Innuitian ice sheets and parts of the Antarctic ice sheet. At the onset of deglaciation about 19,000 years ago, a brief, at most 500-year long, glacio-eustatic event may have contributed as much as 10 m to sea level with an average rate of about 20 mm/yr. During the rest of the early Holocene, the rate of sea level rise varied from a low of about 6.0–9.9 mm/yr to as high as 30–60 mm/yr during brief periods of accelerated sea level rise.
Past sea level | Sea level rise since the last glacial maximum
The basin was finally isolated from the Atlantic Ocean for a longer period, between 5.59 and 5.33 million years ago, resulting in a large or smaller (depending on the scientific model applied) lowering of the Mediterranean sea level. During the initial, very dry stages (5.6–5.5 Ma), there was extensive erosion, creating several huge canyon systems (some similar in scale to the Grand Canyon) around the Mediterranean. Later stages (5.50–5.33 Ma) are marked by cyclic evaporite deposition into a large "lake-sea" basin ("Lago Mare" event). About 5.33 million years ago, at the start of the Zanclean age (at the start of the Pliocene epoch), the barrier at the Strait of Gibraltar broke one last time, re-flooding the Mediterranean basin in the Zanclean flood (Blanc, 2002; Garcia-Castellanos et al., 2009), favouring slope destabilization (Gargani et al., 2014).
Messinian salinity crisis | Chronology
One of the more notable effects climate change has on the environment is the rising of sea levels around the world. Over the past 100 years, the sea level has risen approximately 1.8 millimeters each year. The steady rise in sea levels can be attributed to the steadily increasing temperatures the Earth faces each year which causes the ice caps and glaciers to melt. This increase in sea level is detrimental to the coastal ecosystems that exist around the world. The increase in sea level causes flooding on coastal wetlands, where certain animals will be unable to survive due to saltwater inundation.
Wildlife observation | Rising sea levels
Sea level rise creates an issue for seawalls worldwide as it raises both the mean normal water level and the height of waves during extreme weather events, which the current seawall heights may be unable to cope with. The most recent analyses of long, good-quality tide gauge records (corrected for GIA and when possible for other vertical land motions by the Global Positioning System, GPS) indicate a mean rate of sea level rise of 1.6–1.8 mm/yr over the twentieth century. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (1997) suggested that sea level rise over the next 50 – 100 years will accelerate with a projected increase in global mean sea level of +18 cm by 2050 AD.
Seawall | Sea level rise
The Camarinal Sill is the sill separating the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. This threshold is the shallowest seafloor pass between the Iberian Peninsula and Africa. It is located approximately 25 km west of the narrowest section of the Strait of Gibraltar and 20km east of the Espartel Sill, at , at an elevation of −280 m. Its formation is linked to the Zanclean flood and the termination of the Messinian salinity crisis, when the Mediterranean was abruptly refilled through the Gibraltar Strait, excavating the 900-metre-deep gorge that lies underneath the water. A competing hypothesis suggests that both the gorge and the Camarinal Sill are the result of fluvial erosion during the desiccation of the Mediterranean (Messinian salinity crisis).
Camarinal Sill | Introduction
Measurements by Jason-1 indicate that mean sea level has been rising at an average rate of 2.28 millimeters (.09 inches) per year since 2001. This is somewhat less than the rate measured by the earlier TOPEX/Poseidon mission, but over four times the rate measured by the later Envisat mission. Mean sea level measurements from Jason-1 are continuously graphed at the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales web site, on the Aviso page. A composite sea level graph, using data from several satellites, is also available on that site. The data record from these altimetry missions has given scientists important insights into how global sea level is affected by natural climate variability, as well as by human activities.
Jason-1 | Sea level change
This resulted in a period of partial desiccation of the Mediterranean Sea, the first of several such periods during the late Miocene. After the strait closed for the last time around 5.6 Ma, the region's generally dry climate at the time dried the Mediterranean basin out nearly completely within a thousand years. This massive desiccation left a deep dry basin, reaching deep below normal sea level, with a few hypersaline pockets similar to today's Dead Sea. Then, around 5.5 Ma, less dry climatic conditions resulted in the basin receiving more freshwater from rivers, progressively filling and diluting the hypersaline lakes into larger pockets of brackish water (much like today's Caspian Sea).
Messinian salinity crisis | Introduction
Many diatomites are found underneath the evaporite deposits, suggesting a connection between their formations. Today, evaporation of surface seawater (output) is more than the supply (input) of fresh water by precipitation and coastal drainage systems, causing the salinity of the Mediterranean to be much higher than that of the Atlantic—so much so that the saltier Mediterranean waters sink below the waters incoming from the Atlantic, causing a two-layer flow across the Strait of Gibraltar: that is, an outflow "submarine current" of warm saline Mediterranean water, counterbalanced by an inflow surface current of less saline cold oceanic water from the Atlantic.
Mediterranean Sea | Desiccation and exchanges of flora and fauna
Important roads are at risk of washouts, and important infrastructure, including the hospital and city hall sit near deteriorating cliffs. Recently the sea has been rising at a rate of 7 mm per decade, threatening to contaminate freshwater aquifers.
Magdalen Islands | Climate
Sea levels increase by 2-3 metres by 2100, with an eventual 25 metres of sea-level rise locked in. Some regions become unlivable due to the intense heat and lack of adaptive capacity and around a billion people are displaced, while two billion people suffer from water shortages. There is not enough food to feed the global population and many of the world's most populous cities are abandoned due to sea level rise.
Climate apocalypse | "The 2050 scenario"
It is now known that the Mediterranean Sea went through great changes in sea level and variations in the relative positions of the continental plates of Europe and Africa. These brought changes of climate and vegetation. The Iberian Peninsula, located on an important route between Africa and Europe, was enriched by the arrival, following the climate change, of wetland plants, thermophilic plants (those that require a great deal of heat), xerophilic plants (those that require a dry climate), orophilic (sub-alpine) plants, Boreo-alpine plants, and so on, many of which managed to remain, thanks to the diversity of environments that exist in the mountain ranges, and which allowed them to rise in altitude if the climate was too warm, or descend if it became too cold.
Forests of the Iberian Peninsula | Origin and characteristics
The sea level will not rise uniformly everywhere on Earth, and it will even drop slightly in some locations, such as the Arctic. Local factors include tectonic effects and subsidence of the land, tides, currents and storms. Sea level rises can affect human populations considerably in coastal and island regions. Widespread coastal flooding is expected with several degrees of warming sustained for millennia. Further effects are higher storm-surges and more dangerous tsunamis, displacement of populations, loss and degradation of agricultural land and damage in cities. Natural environments like marine ecosystems are also affected, with fish, birds and plants losing parts of their habitat.
Sea level rise | Introduction
The climate and ecology of land immediately surrounding the Mediterranean Sea is influenced by several factors. Overall, the land has a Mediterranean climate, with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers. The climate induces characteristic Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub vegetation. Plant life immediately near the Mediterranean is in the Mediterranean Floristic region, while mountainous areas further from the sea supports the Sub-Mediterranean Floristic province. An important factor in the local climate and ecology of the lands in the Mediterranean basin is the elevation: an increase of elevation by causes the average air temperature to drop by 5 C/ 9 F and decreases the amount of water that can be held by the atmosphere by 30%.
Life zones of the Mediterranean region | Introduction
Over most of geologic time, the sea level has been higher than it is today. The main factor affecting sea level over time is the result of changes in the oceanic crust, with a downward trend expected to continue in the very long term. At the last glacial maximum, some 20,000 years ago, the sea level was below its present-day level. For at least the last 100 years, sea level has been rising at an average rate of about per year. Most of this rise can be attributed to an increase in the temperature of the sea and the resulting slight thermal expansion of the upper of water.
Sea | Sea level
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released "Coastal Sensitivity to Sea-Level Rise: A Focus on the Mid-Atlantic Region" (SAP 4.1) on January 16, 2009. According to the report's abstract, rising sea level can inundate low areas and increase flooding, coastal erosion, wetland loss, and saltwater intrusion into estuaries and freshwater aquifers. Much of the United States consists of coastal environments and landforms such as barrier islands and wetlands that will respond to sea-level rise by changing shape, size, or position. The combined effects of sea-level rise and other climate change factors such as storms may cause rapid and irreversible coastal change.
Climate Change Science Program | Coastal sensitivity to sea level rise (SAP 4.1)
Because most regions with a Mediterranean climate are near large bodies of water, temperatures are generally moderate, with a comparatively small range of temperatures between the winter low and summer high (although the daily range of temperature during the summer is large due to dry and clear conditions, except along the immediate coasts). Temperatures during winter only occasionally fall below the freezing point and snow is generally seldom seen. In the summer, the temperatures range from mild to very hot, depending on distance from a large body of water, elevation, and latitude. Even in the warmest locations with a Mediterranean-type climate, however, temperatures usually do not reach the highest readings found in adjacent desert regions, because of cooling from water bodies, although strong winds from inland desert regions can sometimes boost summer temperatures, quickly increasing the risk of wildfires.
Mediterranean climate | Temperature
Since at least the start of the 20th century, the average global sea level has been rising. Between 1900 and 2016, the sea level rose by . More precise data gathered from satellite radar measurements reveal an accelerating rise of from 1993 to 2017, which is a trend of roughly per century. This acceleration is due mostly to human-caused global warming, which is driving thermal expansion of seawater and the melting of land-based ice sheets and glaciers. Between 1993 and 2018, thermal expansion of the oceans contributed 42% to sea level rise; the melting of temperate glaciers, 21%; Greenland, 15%; and Antarctica, 8%.
Sea level rise | Introduction
The rate of rise started to slow down about 8,200 years before present; the sea level was almost constant in the last 2,500 years, before the recent rising trend that started at the end of the 19th century or in the beginning of the 20th.
Sea level rise | Past changes in sea level
When it rose above sea level after erupting in 1831, a four-way dispute over its sovereignty began, which was still unresolved when it disappeared beneath the waves again in early 1832. During its brief life, French geologist Constant Prévost was on hand, accompanied by an artist, to witness it in July 1831; he named it "Île Julia", for its July appearance, and reported in the "Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France". Some observers at the time wondered if a chain of mountains would spring up, linking Sicily to Tunisia and thus upsetting the geopolitics of the region. It showed signs of volcanic activity in 2000 and 2002, forecasting a possible appearance; however, it remains under sea level.
Graham Island (Mediterranean Sea) | Introduction
Some, however, use a level. The third letter indicates the degree of summer heat: ""a"" represents an average temperature in the warmest month above , while ""b"" indicates the average temperature in the warmest month below . Under the Köppen classification, dry-summer climates ("Csa", "Csb") usually occur on the western sides of continents. "Csb" zones in the Köppen system include areas normally not associated with Mediterranean climates but with Oceanic climates, such as much of the Pacific Northwest, much of southern Chile, parts of west-central Argentina, and parts of New Zealand. Additional highland areas in the subtropics also meet "Cs" requirements, though they, too, are not normally associated with Mediterranean climates, as do a number of oceanic islands such as Madeira, the Juan Fernández Islands, the western part of the Canary Islands, and the eastern part of the Azores.
Mediterranean climate | Köppen climate classification
In other words, the Mediterranean cannot be understood independently from what is exterior to it. Any rigid adherence to boundaries falsifies the situation. The first level of time, geographical time, is that of the environment, with its slow, almost imperceptible change, its repetition and cycles. Such change may be slow, but it is irresistible. The second level of time comprises long-term social, economic, and cultural history, where Braudel discusses the Mediterranean economy, social groupings, empires and civilizations. Change at this level is much more rapid than that of the environment; Braudel looks at two or three centuries in order to spot a particular pattern, such as the rise and fall of various aristocracies.
Fernand Braudel | "La Méditerranée"
Also, a report by the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research stated that around three million years ago, levels of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere were similar to today's levels which increased temperature by two to three degrees Celsius and melted one third of Antarctica's ice sheets. This in turn caused sea-levels to rise 20 metres. Since the last glacial maximum about 20,000 years ago, the sea level has risen by more than , with rates varying from less than a mm/year to 40+ mm/year, as a result of melting ice sheets over Canada and Eurasia. Rapid disintegration of ice sheets led to so called 'meltwater pulses', periods during which sea level rose rapidly.
Sea level rise | Past changes in sea level
As in every climatologic domain, the highland locations of the Mediterranean domain can present cooler temperatures in winter than the lowland areas, temperatures which can sometimes prohibit the growth of typical Mediterranean plants. Some Spanish authors opt to use the term "Continental Mediterranean climate" for some regions with lower temperature in winter than the coastal areas (direct translation from ), but most climate classifications (including Köppen's "Cs" zones) show no distinction. Additionally, the temperature and rainfall pattern for a "Csa" or even a "Csb" climate can exist as a microclimate in some high-altitude locations adjacent to a rare tropical "As" (tropical savanna climate with dry summers, typically in a rainshadow region, as in Hawaii).
Mediterranean climate | Temperature
The PDO is a basin-wide climate pattern consisting of two phases, each commonly lasting 10 to 30 years, while the ENSO has a shorter period of 2 to 7 years.
Sea level rise | Satellites
This sudden lack of ocean water influx allowed the basin to decrease in volume and increase in salinity, and as a result of the drop in surface level many of the rivers which flow still today into the Mediterranean began to incise.
Knickpoint | Evidence of large-scale base level drop
Global mean sea levels (GMSL) rose by per year which is "2.5 times faster than the rate from 1900 to 1990". At the rate of acceleration, it "could reach around to by 2100 even if greenhouse gas emissions are sharply reduced and global warming is limited to well below 2°C, but around to if emissions continue to increase strongly. In their summary of the SROCC, Carbon Brief said that rate of rising sea levels is "unprecedented" over the past century. Worst-case projections are higher than thought and a rise by 2100 "cannot be ruled out". if greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase strongly."
Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate | Rising sea levels
Distance from the Atlantic Ocean also has an effect on precipitation levels, so there is less rainfall in the east than in the west. Autumn (October to December) is the wettest season, while July is the driest month. The high humidity and the prevailing off-shore winds make fog and mist common along the north west coast; this phenomenon is less frequent a short distance inland because the mountains form a barrier to the maritime moisture.
Climate of Spain | Oceanic climate
Some of the recorded regional differences are due to differences in the actual sea level, while other are due to vertical land movements. In Europe for instance, considerable variation is found because some land areas are rising while others are sinking. Since 1970, most tidal stations have measured higher seas, but sea levels along the northern Baltic Sea have dropped due to post-glacial rebound.
Sea level rise | Tide gauges
The melting of glaciers at the end of ice ages is one example of eustatic sea level rise. The subsidence of land due to the withdrawal of groundwater is an isostatic cause of relative sea level rise. Paleoclimatologists can track sea level by examining the rocks deposited along coasts that are very tectonically stable, like the east coast of North America. Areas like volcanic islands are experiencing relative sea level rise as a result of isostatic cooling of the rock which causes the land to sink. On other planets that lack a liquid ocean, planetologists can calculate a "mean altitude" by averaging the heights of all points on the surface.
Sea level | Dry land
The climate is continentalized Mediterranean obviously mediatized by its nearness to the sea. The winters are very mild, temperatures rarely become negative and rarely drop below 10 °C, on the contrary the summers are very warm middle registering in July and August over 33 °C. The annual average is around of 18 °C. The precipitations are not usually very abundant. Later, it shows the average of temperatures and rainfalls throughout the year 2007:
Cartaya | Climatology
Current and future sea level rise is set to have a number of impacts, particularly on coastal systems. Such impacts include increased coastal erosion, higher storm-surge flooding, inhibition of primary production processes, more extensive coastal inundation, changes in surface water quality and groundwater characteristics, increased loss of property and coastal habitats, increased flood risk and potential loss of life, loss of non-monetary cultural resources and values, impacts on agriculture and aquaculture through decline in soil and water quality, and loss of tourism, recreation, and transportation functions. Many of these impacts are detrimental. Owing to the great diversity of coastal environments; regional and local differences in projected relative sea level and climate changes; and differences in the resilience and adaptive capacity of ecosystems, sectors, and countries, the impacts will be highly variable in time and space.
Sea level rise | Effects
The early Holocene sea level rise (EHSLR) was a significant jump in sea level by about during the early Holocene, between about 12,000 and 7,000 years ago, spanning the Eurasian Mesolithic. The rapid rise in sea level and associated climate change, notably the 8.2 ka cooling event (8,200 years ago), and the loss of coastal land favoured by early farmers, may have contributed to the spread of the Neolithic to Europe. During deglaciation since the Last Glacial Maximum, between about 20,000 to 7,000 years ago (20–7 ka), the sea level rose by a total of about 100 m, at times at extremely high rates, due to the rapid melting of the British-Irish Sea, Fennoscandian, Laurentide, Barents-Kara, Patagonian, Innuitian and parts of the Antarctic ice sheets.
Early Holocene sea level rise | Introduction
In the Straits of Messina there are very swift currents between Scylla and Charybdis. In the open Mediterranean the alteration of height is small but the currents are noticeable. Simplicio counters with the peripatetic explanations, which are based on the depths of the sea, and the dominion of the Moon over the water, though this does not explain the risings when the Moon is below the horizon. But he admits it could be a miracle.
Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems | Day four
Current rates of sea level rise from satellite altimetry have been estimated to be per year for the period 1993–2017. Earlier satellite measurements were previously slightly at odds with tide gauge measurements. A small calibration error for the Topex/Poseidon satellite was eventually identified as having caused a slight overestimation of the 1992–2005 sea levels, that masked the ongoing sea level rise acceleration. Satellites are useful for measuring regional variations in sea level, such as the substantial rise between 1993 and 2012 in the western tropical Pacific. This sharp rise has been linked to increasing trade winds, which occur when the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) change from one state to the other.
Sea level rise | Satellites
The "Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate" (SROCC) was approved on 25 September 2019 in Monaco. Among other findings, the report concluded that sea level rises could be up to two feet higher by the year 2100, even if efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to limit global warming are successful; coastal cities across the world could see so-called "storm[s] of the century" at least once a year.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change | Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC)
Sea levels can be affected by many factors and are known to have varied greatly over geological time scales. However, 20th century and current millennium sea level rise is presumed to be caused by global warming, and careful measurement of variations in MSL can offer insights into ongoing climate change. The term "above sea level" generally refers to above mean sea level (AMSL). The term APSL means Above Present Sea Level, comparing sea levels in the past with the level today.
Sea level | Introduction
They reach a maximum height of 52 m above sea level.
La Portada | Description
Rising sea levels are expected to cause coastal erosion due to climate change. According to NASA, the sea level is expected to increase by by 2050. Rise in sea level could impact coastal communities of the Caribbean if they are less than above the sea. In Latin America and the Caribbean, it is expected that 29 – 32 million people may be affected by the sea level rise because they live below this threshold. The Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago are expected to be the most affected because at least 80% of the total land is below the sea level. Coastal losses range between US$940 million to $1.2 billion in the 22 largest coastal cities in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Climate change in the Caribbean | Rise in sea level
In the period from 7 to 5 million years ago the Mediterranean Sea was closed and remained isolated from the Atlantic Ocean. This resulted in the increase of the temperature of the water that turned the Mediterranean into a low-salt lake with many areas dried up, this condition lasted for several hundreds of thousands of years was deposited sediment type saline evaporites. Subsequently, the Mediterranean Sea was opened, and the ocean water began to circulate between the Alps and the Apennines had formed a triangular gulf that covered the entire Po Valley. Due to the continuous lifting of the Alps and the Apennines to the sea withdrew from this gulf and the accumulation of sediments carried by the rivers gave rise to a flood plain which corresponds to the Po Valley.
Montferrat | Geology
Occasional southeastern winds bring warm air from Europe, raising the temperature to 17–19 °C and sometimes even to 30 °C. Annual precipitations increase from 282 mm in the north 529 in the south. In winter, from October–November to May–June, the sea freezes, with the average January water temperatures of −1.9 °C in the north, between −1.3 and −1.7 °С in the centre, and between −0.5 and −0.7 °С in the bays. These variations are due to the distribution of water salinity across the sea, which increases from 24 to 26‰ in the centre to 30.5‰ in the "gorlo", reaching 34.0–34.5‰ toward the Barents Sea.
White Sea | Climate
Total human-caused subsidence in the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta (Netherlands) is estimated at , over in urban areas of the Mississippi River Delta (New Orleans), and over in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Isostatic rebound causes relative sea level fall around the Hudson Bay in Canada and the northern Baltic. The Atlantic is set to warm at a faster pace than the Pacific. This has consequences for Europe and the U.S. East Coast, which received a sea level rise 3–4 times the global average. The downturn of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) has been also tied to extreme regional sea level rise on the US Northeast Coast.
Sea level rise | Regional sea level change
Due to numerous factors, sea levels are rising at an accelerating rate, which poses a great threat to the human environment, both now and in the future. Although this is a slow and continuous process, its long-term cumulative effects on the world, especially in coastal areas, pose a serious threat. In recent years, some coastal areas have already had to cope with effects accumulated over a long period of change. These areas are sensitive to rising sea levels, changes in the frequency and intensity of storms, increased precipitation, and rising ocean temperatures. Ten per cent of the world's population live in coastal areas that are less than above sea level.
Sea level rise | Coastal areas
Although reports vary widely in predicting the height of sea-level rise in the future, IPCC estimates predict a 1-meter rise over the next century. Other reports consider the IPCC estimates to be far too low and suggest levels closer to 1.9 meters by 2100. Nevertheless, sea-level rise is an unavoidable reality. As sea-levels continue to rise, coastal cities face challenges of properly modeling and preparing for the increased storm surges brought on by tropical storms.
Sinking cities | Sea-Level Rise
This network was used, in combination with satellite altimeter data, to establish that global mean sea-level rose between 1870 and 2004 at an average rate of about 1.44 mm/yr (1.7 mm/yr during the 20th century). Data collected by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Australia show the current global mean sea level trend to be per year, a doubling of the rate during the 20th century. This is an important confirmation of climate change simulations which predicted that sea level rise would accelerate in response to global warming. Some regional differences are also visible in the tide gauge data.
Sea level rise | Tide gauges
The cold-summer subtype of the Mediterranean climate ("Csc") is rare and predominately found at scattered high-altitude locations along the west coasts of North and South America. This type is characterized by cool summers, with fewer than four months with a mean temperature at or above , as well as with mild winters, with no winter month having a mean temperature below (or ), depending on the isotherm used). Regions with this climate are influenced by the dry-summer trend that extends considerably poleward along the west coast of the Americas, as well as the moderating influences of high altitude and relative proximity to the Pacific Ocean.
Mediterranean climate | Cold-summer Mediterranean climate
The dry summer season has temperatures of more than , occasionally reaching over . In winter, the temperatures often drop below . In some areas the vegetation depends heavily on moisture produced by condensation fog. It is a continental Mediterranean climate with extreme temperatures. There are many ground frosts on clear nights, and sporadic snowfalls.
Ebro | Climate
"Sea level has risen by about four inches relative to Puerto Rico’s shoreline since 1960. As the oceans and atmosphere continue to warm, sea level around Puerto Rico is likely to rise one to three feet in the next century. Rising sea level submerges marshes, mangroves, and dry land; erodes beaches; and exacerbates coastal flooding".
Climate change in Puerto Rico | Rising seas and retreating shores
Aquifer drawdown or overdrafting and the pumping of fossil water may be a contributing factor to sea-level rise. By increasing the amount of moisture available to fall as precipitation, severe weather events are more likely to occur. To some extent moisture in the atmosphere accelerates the probability of a global warming event. The correlation coefficient is not yet scientifically determined.
Overdrafting | Effects on climate
Much of the country experiences a Mediterranean climate with warm or hot, dry summers and the rainfall falling in winter. A semi-arid climate occurs in the southeastern part of Spain, but is also found in other parts of the country such as the Ebro basin. Here the summers are hot and the winters cool, but there is limited precipitation at any time of year. The northern part of the country experiences an oceanic climate (called as well cantabrian climate) with both winter and summer temperatures influenced by the proximity to the Cantabrian sea and rainfall spread throughout the year. The Balearic Islands have a Mediterranean climate, and the Canary Islands are influenced by their oceanic surroundings and proximity to Africa.
Wildlife of Spain | Climate
This complex climatological effect is multiplied by the Jama-Coaque Coastal Mountain Range, whose sharp changes in altitude so close to the ocean account for wide variations in precipitation in very small expanses of land. The mountains rise to 845 metres (2,772 feet) above sea level at the highest peak, although the rest of the mountain range is a series of peaks that average 500–650 metres (1,640-2,132 feet) of altitude, which are shrouded in fog most of the year. Starting in late December, a change in atmospheric pressure shifts ocean currents so that warm waters come closer to shore and displace the cold waters.
Pacific Equatorial Forest | Climate
Understanding past sea level is important for the analysis of current and future changes. In the recent geological past, changes in land ice and thermal expansion from increased temperatures are the dominant reasons of sea level rise. The last time the Earth was 2 °C (3.6 °F) warmer than pre-industrial temperatures, sea levels were at least higher than now: this was when warming because of changes in the amount of sunlight due to slow changes in the Earth's orbit caused the last interglacial. The warming was sustained over a period of thousands of years and the magnitude of the rise in sea level implies a large contribution from the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets.
Sea level rise | Past changes in sea level
Warmer sea surface temperatures caused by climate change in the Mediterranean Sea can allow the storms to take on more tropical appearances and characteristics, increasing the wind speeds and making the storms more intense. A 2017 study in Global and Planetary Change led by Raquel Romera that examined a large suite of regional climate model projections supported the theory that medicanes will gradually become stronger due to climate change.
Cyclone Ianos | Meteorological history
Examples of this include karst regions underlain by insoluble rock. Base levels may be local when large landmasses are far from the sea or disconnected from it, as in the case of endorheic basins. An example of this is the Messinian salinity crisis, in which the Mediterranean Sea dried up making the base level drop more than 1000 m below sea level. The height of a base level also influences the position of deltas and river terraces. Together with river discharge and sediment flux the position of the base level influences the gradient, width and bed conditions in rivers. A relative drop in base level can trigger re-adjustments in river profiles including knickpoint migration and abandonment of terraces leaving them "hanging".
Base level | Introduction
[[File:Satellite_sea_level_observations_1993-2018.png|alt=The graph shows sea level rise from 1980 to 2018, showing a steady increase over time.|thumb|220x220px|Sea level rise (millimeters) from 1980-2018 showing a steady increase over time.]] Although the Earth's oceans have been rising since the last ice age around 18,000 years ago as a result of melting sea and land ice, climate change is expected to accelerate the rate of global sea level rise. According to California's Fourth Climate Change Assessment, published in 2018, climate change will stimulate 54 inches of sea level rise by 2100 if greenhouse gas emissions continued at their current rates. This phenomenon is expected to cause coastal and estuarial flooding which will have both economic, environmental, and political ramifications in terms of water.
Water in California | Sea Level Rise
However, unshielded areas of that coastline can have warm-summer Mediterranean climates with hot-summer areas just a few kilometres inland.
Mediterranean climate | Hot-summer Mediterranean climate
With the loss of mass, the gravitational pull becomes less and local water levels might drop. Further away from the ice sheet water levels will increase more than average. In this light, melt in Greenland has a different fingerprint on regional sea level than melt in Antarctica. Many ports, urban conglomerations, and agricultural regions are built on river deltas, where subsidence of land contributes to a substantially increased "relative" sea level rise. This is caused by both unsustainable extraction of groundwater (in some places also by extraction of oil and gas), and by levees and other flood management practices that prevent accumulation of sediments from compensating for the natural settling of deltaic soils.
Sea level rise | Regional sea level change
Consequently, MIS 7 (~180-240 ka; Imbrie et al., 1984) marine terraces are less pronounced and sometimes absent (Zazo, 1999). When the elevations of these terraces are higher than the uncertainties in paleo-eustatic sea level mentioned for the Holocene and Late Pleistocene, these uncertainties have no effect on overall interpretation. Sequence can also occurs where the accumulation of ice sheets have depressed the land so that when the ice sheets melts the land readjusts with time thus raising the height of the beaches (glacio-isostatic rebound) and in places where co-seismic uplift occur. In the latter case, the terrace are not correlated with sea level highstand even if co-seismic terrace are known only for the Holocene.
Raised beach | Land and sea level history
Like in the Atlantic, the global sea level kept on rising during the Subboreal but at a much slower rate. The increase amounted to about 1 m, which corresponds to a rate of 0.3 mm per year. At the end of the Subboreal, the sea level was about 1 m below the current value.
Subboreal | Sea level
The climate in the coastal zone is smooth, with many windy days motivated by the impact of the trade winds in the area, most of the time being its very choppy sea. In the area of middle altitude called medianías, part of the territory in between 400 and 1200 meters over the sea level, very extensive, the temperature is colder, and is a place where the land is very rich. At this altitude is seen in the cool nights of Roque del Faro, Hoya Grande or Llano Negro, mild climate to the extent we drove south on Catela, El Castillo or Las Tricias.
Garafía | Introduction
Coastal ecosystems are facing drastic changes as a consequence of rising sea levels. Many systems might ultimately be lost when sea levels rise too much or too fast. Some ecosystems can move land inward with the high-water mark, but many are prevented from migrating due to natural or artificial barriers. This coastal narrowing, sometimes called 'coastal squeeze' when considering human-made barriers, could result in the loss of habitats such as mudflats and marshes. The mangrove ecosystem is one of these iconic ecosystems affected by rising sea levels. It is an ecological whole composed of mangrove plants growing in and around the mudflats of the tropical coast.
Sea level rise | Ecosystems
While humidity generally increases with altitude, the vegetational structure of transects on Orjen varies through a combination of ranges of warmth and humidity where altitude, exposition, geomorphology and pedology correlate with specific alliances in the vegetation. At coast level at Risan with up to 3500 mm/m² precipitation per year the perhumid eumediterranean climate variant is established (Cs’’a climate; s’’= double winter rain season. According to the Köppen climate classification). Rain augments in the supra- to oromediterranean life zone (Crkvice at 940 m) to 4926 mm/m²a (Cfsb climate; fs= without summer dryness), while the higher summits of the alti- and kryomediterranean life zone receive more than 6000 mm/m² per year and are constituents of mediterranean snowclimates (Dfsc) heavily influenced by bora and sirocco storm winds.
Iris orjenii | Climate
Several possible causes of the series of Messinian crises have been considered. While there is disagreement on all fronts, the most general consensus seems to agree that climate had a role in forcing the periodic filling and emptying of the basins, and that tectonic factors must have played a part in controlling the height of the sills restricting flow between the Atlantic and Mediterranean (Gargani and Rigollet, 2007). The magnitude and extent of these effects, however, is widely open to interpretation (see, e.g., van Dijk et al. (1998). In any case, the causes of the closing and isolation of the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean must be found in the area where the Strait of Gibraltar is now.
Messinian salinity crisis | Causes
It is caused by the passage of a channeled cold coastal front, a type of coastally trapped disturbance. They usually occur during warm and calm days when a cold front causes a sudden change in wind direction and intensity that can exceed 100 km/h. The sky darkens and there is a sudden decrease in temperature of up to 12°C in 20 minutes, rapid drop in atmospheric pressure, and a rise in relative humidity. The resulting wave heights in the coastal ocean range from rough to very high on the Douglas sea scale. Because of the associated weather and sea condition change, they are some of the meteorological events most feared by mariners and fishermen in the Bay of Biscay, especially historically.
Galerna | Description
Due to the height of the Teide mountain, there are numerous microclimates within the characteristic subtropical climate of the Canary islands. At sea level, the climate is hot and subtropical, very sunny with sporadic rainfall. Between 550 m and 1,200, at cloud level, the humidity is higher, rainfall more frequent and the temperatures are lower. Above the cloud level, the climate is much drier, greater contrast between night and day temperatures, snow is normal and minimum temperature can fall to -5 °C.
Abona (DO) | Climate
Almería, near sea level, is an example of a Thermo-mediterranean climate, among the warmest locations on the European continent: Prado Llano, in the Albergue Juvenil of Cordoba has an oromediterranean climate because it is approximately higher:
Life zones of the Mediterranean region | Climate
Semi-empirical sea level models rely on statistical techniques, using relationships between observed (contributions to) global mean sea level and global mean temperature. This type of modelling was partially motivated by the fact that in previous literature assessments by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) most physical models underestimated the amount of sea level rise compared to observations of the 20th century.
Sea level rise | Projections
The climate is modified Mediterranean, with the highest air temperature averaging during July and the lowest averaging , in January. Summers are usually very hot during the day, temperature goes up to 40 °C. Temperatures above last for more than 250 days a year. Two kinds of wind are common in the area - the northern to north-eastern bora, which usually brings cold and clear weather in winter, and the southern to south-eastern sirocco, which often brings rain.
Imotski | Climate