Climate Change Threatens Mediterranean Region with Extreme Heat, Drought and Sea Level Rise
Key Highlights :
The Mediterranean region is facing a climate crisis with extreme heat, drought, and sea level rise all threatening its cherished beaches, seafood, and heritage sites. According to the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the region spanning parts of southern Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia is a climate-change "hot spot" and is being hit by near-record temperatures and wildfires during this week's heatwave.
Heatwaves are increasing due to climate change in the Mediterranean, and are amplified in cities due to urbanization practices, causing illness and death. One study published in 2010 led by scientists at the University of Bern calculated that the intensity, length, and number of heatwaves in the eastern Mediterranean had increased by about six or seven times since the 1960s. North Africa is also facing a drought, with farmers bracing for a terrible harvest. With hotter weather drying up groundwater for irrigating farms, the IPCC said that with global warming of more than 1.5C olive yields could fall by a fifth in the northern Mediterranean.
Researchers at Stanford University found "the Mediterranean experiencing significant adverse impacts on most crops". A drought in Spain has raised political tensions over water management ahead of a general election. The European Drought Observatory said groundwater tables across half the Mediterranean region were running low already in June. The IPCC report warned climate change will worsen water shortages "in most locations" in the region. Lakes and reservoirs are expected to decline by up to 45 percent this century, and surface water availability by up to 55 percent in North Africa.
The sea level in the Mediterranean basin has risen 2.8mm a year over recent decades, threatening shorelines and cities such as Venice, which regularly suffers tidal floods. "Sea level rise already impacts extreme coastal waters around the Mediterranean and it is projected to increase coastal flooding, erosion and salinisation risks," said the IPCC. "These impacts would affect agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture, urban development, port operations, tourism, cultural sites and many coastal ecosystems."
As well as its cherished beaches, climate change threatens the Mediterranean sea and the food produced by its fisheries. "A shift in Mediterranean marine ecosystems, characterized by biodiversity decline and invasive species, has occurred since the 1980s" due to climate change and other human impacts, the IPCC said. With global warming of more than 1.5C, more than 20 percent of exploited fish and invertebrates in the Eastern Mediterranean could become locally extinct by 2060 and fishing revenues could decrease up to 30 percent by 2050, it said.
The Mediterranean region is facing an uncertain future due to climate change. With extreme heat, drought, and sea level rise all threatening its cherished beaches, seafood, and heritage sites, it is essential that the world takes action to reduce global warming and protect the region from further damage.
