Mediterranean Turning into Tropical Sea, WWF Warns

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Mediterranean could turn into tropical sea
A beach on the Greek island of Lesvos. Credit: Jordan Kapantais / CC BY-SA 4.0

The Mediterranean is turning into a tropical sea due to rising global temperatures, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) warned in a report published recently.

The Italian branch of the WWF says that due to the climate crisis, nearly 1,000 exotic species have adapted to life in its waters, thus replacing endemic species.

This finding confirms reports by Greek scientists that alien fish species from the Red Sea have “invaded” the Aegean and the Ionian Seas over the last several years.

Tropical sea temperatures?

The study found that with temperatures rising 20 percent faster than the global average and sea levels also rising—they are projected to have risen one meter by 2100—the Mediterranean is becoming the saltiest and fastest-warming sea on the planet.

“Urgent action is needed to further mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the new reality of a warming sea,” the WWF said.

“The scenarios presented by experts on the future of the Mediterranean, which speak of accelerating temperature rises and the entry of numerous alien species [show] the Mare Nostrum is at risk of changing face very quickly with inevitable consequences for communities. Now, more than ever, it is necessary to focus on the protected marine area, at least 30 percent by 2030,” the president of WWF Italy, Donatella Bianchi, said in a statement.

Deep waters of the Mediterranean Sea also affected

The study also notes that rising temperatures are transforming the depths of deep waters in the Mediterranean. Endemic grasslands and Pinna nobilis have decreased throughout the region, eventually becoming completely extinct in some areas.

The loss of these species would have a dramatic impact on the entire marine ecosystem, as they provide vital habitats for many species and produce benefits in the fight against climate change since some of these function as natural carbon sinks, the study warns, adding that there would also be economic disadvantages since the species attract divers and tourists.

The maritime director of WWF Italy, Giulia Prato, said: “the Mediterranean Sea today is no longer what it was. Its tropicalization is already advanced. Climate change is not a problem of the future, it is a reality that scientists, fishermen, divers, coastal communities and tourists are already experiencing today.”

The report says native mollusks have declined by almost 90 percent in Israeli waters and invasive species, such as rabbitfish, account for 80 percent of catches in Turkey. Furthermore, southern species, such as barracudas and brown groupers, have become common sightings in the waters of northern Liguria (Italy).

Likewise, storms and higher temperatures are transforming deep water depths and endemic forests of “posidonia,” “gorgonians,” and “Pinna nobilis” have declined throughout the region and have become completely extinct in certain areas, such as in the Spanish Mediterranean.

Related: Why the Mediterranean is One of the Saltiest Seas in the World

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