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What does extreme heat mean for the Mediterranean Sea?

Jeannette Cwienk 08/11/2023August 11, 2023

 

July temperatures in the Mediterranean reached record levels. Frequent heat waves cause huge damage to underwater ecosystems and researchers expect more of them in the future. What are the solutions to heat stress?

 

Extreme heat has plagued the Mediterranean for weeks. Wildfires raged across at least nine countries in the region from Algeria to Greece. But the soaring temperatures are not only a danger for people and ecosystems on land, they're also harming marine life. 

At the end of July, Mediterranean Sea surface temperatures hit a record 28.7 degrees Celsius (83.66 Fahrenheit), with some eastern parts of the waters reaching more than 30 C. Those temperatures could rise further in August, which is usually hotter.

"Without a doubt global climate change is the main reason for the heat waves in sea. It's causing the ocean to warm," said Katrin Schroeder, an oceanographer with the Institute of Marine Science in Italy.  

But why are high sea temperatures a problem?

In a warming world, marine creatures are in danger of suffocating. Gases like oxygen and carbon dioxide dissolve better at colder temperatures, so that means the warmer the water, the less oxygen is available to breathe. 

Conversely, higher temperatures also cause an increase in metabolism, which in turn means animals have to breathe even more than usual, said Diego Kersting, a marine scientist with Spain's National Research Council (CSIC). That combination also heightens the risk of death by starvation for marine life.

"The rise in temperature accelerates metabolism, and the organisms need more food to maintain this metabolic rate," said Kersting.

 

Algal blooms are more common in hotter waters too. Such blooms can further deplete oxygen levels and produce toxins harmful for fish, marine mammals and birds, for instance. 

What species and ecosystems are worst hit by marine heat waves?

High water temperatures are most harmful for animals living at the bottom of oceans, lakes or rivers. These benthic species include corals, mussels, sponges, starfish and plants like sea grasses, and are often attached to rock or solid ground. They can't migrate when it gets too hot. 

Scientists observed mass deaths of benthic species along thousands of kilometers of Mediterranean coastline between 2015 and 2019. 

"We had really complex ecosystems, rich in biodiversity, and now we're losing that, at least in shallow waters," said Joaquim Garrabou, senior scientist at CSIC's Institute for Marine Sciences in Spain.

Many benthic species are crucial to the marine ecosystem. They filter the water and keep seas, rivers and lakes clean by eating dead organisms. Some species are an important food source for other creatures or are harvested by humans. Benthics like soft corals, seaweed and seagrasses provide some of the main ocean habitats. 

 

Heat is particularly harmful for Posidonia oceanica or Neptune grass, said Pedro Beca-Carretero from Germany's Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT). And the large, slow-growing seagrass is found only in the Mediterranean. Previous heat waves have decimated the species, which is bad news for the climate. 

"This species is of particular importance to humans as it serves as a major natural carbon sink and stores more carbon per square meter than forest ecosystems, making it one of the most effective ecosystems for long-term carbon storage," said Beca-Carretero.

 Is heat good for any animals in the Mediterranean? 

Jellyfish, on the other hand, are thriving because of higher temperatures, as well as nutrient run-off from farms and sewage. Overfishing and loss of fish habitat mean the jellyfish have few or no predators. When currents push the animals together, the Mediterranean turns into a crowded jellyfish hotspot. 

The sea also hosts around 1,000 invasive species — the highest number in the world. While this is not directly linked to climate change or rising temperatures "such conditions clearly favor species introduced from warmer seas," said Kersting from Spain's CSIC.

 

Alien species can have a major impact on ecosystems. For instance, invasive Rabbitfish native to the Indo-Pacific and Rea Sea feed on seaweed and have reshaped the habitat of the eastern Mediterranean. Underwater deserts have replaced dense seaweed forests. 

"The species that normally live in the algal forests — and the species that usually feed on them — can no longer live there," explained Joaquim Garrabou of the CSIC. 

What does extreme heat in the Mediterranean mean for people? 

Warming seas are already affecting fishing activities in the area. Fishermen are catching fewer familiar species and instead are finding more invasive fish which they have difficulty selling. 

 "Rabbitfish and lionfish are edible, but other invasive fish aren't. Some are even poisonous, like the puffer fish," Garrabou said.

Habitat loss could also lead to an overall decline in fish populations, while disappearing seagrass means coasts will be more exposed to future storms. This could also have a knock-on effect for tourism because divers will be less likely to visit an impoverished underwater landscape. 

Can anything be done about rising temperatures in the Mediterranean? 

One thing all the researchers agree on is that to save the Mediterranean Sea habitat, humans must stop emitting greenhouse gases. 

"There's no way to directly protect the habitats of the Mediterranean Sea against heat stress, but they can be made more resilient," said Christian Wild, head of the marine ecology department at the University of Bremen in northern Germany. One important step in doing so is combatting the growth of algal blooms which are worsened by run-off from agriculture, wastewater and industry, added the scientist. 

Scientists also hope that the UN goal of protecting 30% of the world's oceans by 2030 will directly benefit the Mediterranean. So far, just 8% of the sea is protected. 

"Above all, we need to increase the number of strictly protected areas where fishing, diving and boating are not allowed," said Joaquim Garrabou. Even if marine protected areas won't make the water cooler, "we are seeing that well protected areas are recovering faster and better from human disturbance," he added.  

Designating protected areas isn't enough, they also have to be properly managed, which is something that's lacking now, said the researchers. 

Some of the Mediterranean's new inhabitants could also be a helpful addition as the planet heats up.

Tropical seaweed Halophila stipulacea Ascherson, originally native to the Red Sea, copes well with rising temperatures and salinity levels compared to other seaweeds.

It's an invasive species that could potentially help "seagrass beds survive in a smaller part of the Mediterranean and continue to provide some of their essential ecosystem services," said Pedro Beca-Carretero.

There may also be hope for the native Neptune grass. Studies show that the plants can deal with rising Mediterranean temperatures if they are intentionally exposed to heat as young seedlings.

This article orginally appeared in German.

 

https://www.dw.com/en/what-does-extreme-heat-mean-for-the-mediterranean-sea/a-66511900

 

CARTOON AT TOP FROM SMH 13/08/2023

 

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fake HI news.....

THE HEARTLAND INSTITUTE (HI) IS STILL PUSHING FOR DOING NOTHING TO A PROBLEM THAT DOES NOT EXIST IN ITS CAREFULLY CRAFTED IGNORANCE... IT'S A BIT AS IF THE INSTITUTE FOR HEADS-IN-THE-SAND-OSTRICHES WAS ENCOURAGING BURNING MORE FOSSIL FUELS TO BRING FORWARD THE "BIG CATASTROPHE" THE BOFFINS THERE DO NOT BELIEVE IN...

THEY HAVE A CASE OF RABID DELUSION THAT NEEDS TO BE VIEWED....

BEWARE, LIKE ALL AMERICANS — SAD COMEDIANS LIKE JAKE SULLIVAN AND BLINKEN, PRESIDENTS AND INSTITUTIONS SUCH AS THE CIA ALIKE — THEY ARE VERY GOOD AT NOT TELLING AN OUNCE OF TRUTH....

 

President Joe Biden and the UN are likely to declare an “official” global climate emergency next week. All the signs are there. The chatter, and the behind the scenes maneuvering. The UN’s website now has a climate emergency page. Biden the other day stopped short, but when the new temperature numbers are issued on August 15by NOAA, that may be all the justification Biden needs. The “melting in Antarctica and the supposed subsequent sea level rise” will be another, and Lahaina in Maui burning to the ground will be cited as yet another.

If Biden declares a climate emergency, will climate lockdowns follow? History suggests “yes.” In a plausible scenario, we could see gas rationing, restrictions on electricity use, and limits on air travel. Enjoy steaks? Well, you can forget those.

But what is the truth about Antarctica ice and Maui fires? Tune in LIVE at noon CT on Friday, August 11 to find out. Host Anthony Watts and Heartland’s H. Sterling Burnett, Linnea Lueken, and Donald Kendal will discuss it all, and more.

 

https://heartland.org/opinion/live-at-noon-ct-today-climate-emergency-declaration-here-come-climate-lockdowns-climate-change-roundtable-75/

 

NOW, YOU COULD BE RIGHT IN THINKING THAT JOE BIDEN DOES NOT CARE ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT. IF HE DID, HE WOULD STOP SENDING BOMBS TO AN AWFUL UKRAINIAN COMEDIAN WHO DOES LOUSY STAND UPS AROUND THE WORLD WITH A BEGGING BOWL. YES, JOE BIDEN DOES NOT DO THINGS TO SAVE THE PLANET, BUT TO MAKE MONEY OR/AND ANNOY THE RUSKIES, BY BLOWING UP METHANE PIPELINES. JOE BIDEN IS NOT A GREENIE.... JOE BIDEN IS A CORRUPT GREMLIN IN A DECREPIT DEMOCRACY THAT NEVER WAS A DEMOCRACY, BUT A MULTINATIONALOCRAPCY, FOR WHICH HE SELLS THE SNAKE OIL, THOUGH HIS BRAIN HAVING LEFT THE SAUSAGE FOR A WHILE NOW, NEEDS TO BE PROMPTED BY REMOTE CONTOL BY THE PENTAGON ..... 

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doing something.....

IN THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE, IT SEEMS THAT THE WRITER, Ronald Stein, P.E., FOR THE HEARTLAND INSTITUTE SUBLIMINALLY RECOGNISES THAT THERE IS AN ANTHROPOGENIC GLOBAL WARMING PROBLEM.... HIS ARGUMENTS FLOAT ABOUT THE BAD SOLUTIONS TO THE UNSEEN, UNRECOGNISED (PUBLICLY BY THE HEARTLAND INSTITUTE) PROBLEM THAT IS THE TEMPERATURE CONTROL OF THE PLANET.... WE KNOW WE HAVE TO DO BETTER TOO... WE HAVE ALSO SHOWN SOME SOLUTIONS...

 

Without a Replacement, Abandoning Fossil Fuels Supports China

Wind turbines and solar panels that can generate electricity intermittently, are themselves totally dependent on fossil fuels for all their components. Renewables offer NO energy independence, as America has never imported electricity from foreign countries. Wind and solar just generate intermittent electricity.

Further, the raw materials that are essential for building EV batteries, wind turbines, and solar panels, are increasingly dependent on the supply chain of exotic minerals and metals being mined in developing countries with miniscule labor or environmental regulations.

For those that set written policies and regulations, they seem to just follow the personal passions of leaders like that of President Biden and California Governor Newsom to rid America of fossil fuels usage.

With America representing only four percent of the world’s population, the elite leaders desire to have America’s emissions lowered to reduce its impact on the world’s climate, is like that of someone poring a bucket of hot water into the ocean and claiming that it will change the temperature of the entire ocean!

The implications of abandoning fossil fuels without a replacement are enormous for global commerce, and especially for America. Simultaneously with those continuous efforts to reduce nationwide oil production, American demands for the products and fuels manufactured from crude oil are continually increasing its dependency on foreign countries.

As Don Ritter recently discussed, the autocratic oil Producers (Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Russia, Iran, Qatar, Venezuela, and China) clearly benefit from America’s declining production, because major Consumers (India, Brazil, Indonesia, South Africa, and others) that buy oil, gas and petrochemicals must feed their people, fuel their vehicles, and grow their economies at reasonable cost.

Unbeknownst to President Joe Biden and California Governor Gavin Newsom, is that China’s Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin are great War historians. As World War I and II historians, Russia, China, and OPEC know, the country that controls the minerals, crude oil, and natural gas, controls the world!

Therein lies the mystification.

  • Wind turbines and solar panels can only generate intermittent electricity. They cannot manufacture any products for society.
  • Crude Oil on the other hand is virtually useless, unless it’s manufactured (refineries) into oil derivatives that are the basis of more than 6,000 products in our daily lives that did not exist before the 1900’s, and the fuels to move the heavy-weight and long-range needs of more than 50,000 jets moving people and products, and more than 50,000 merchant ships for global trade flows, and the military and space program.
  • The chemical derivative manufactured from crude oil are the basis of all the components of wind turbines, solar panels, and EV batteries. Ridding the world of crude oil would eliminate renewables!

China has no intentions of abandoning its economic, military, or strategic ambitions – all of which rely on fossil fuels. Asia is the region with the greatest number of future petroleum refineries. As of 2021, there were 88 new facilities in planning or under construction in Asia.

China has now abandoned the Paris Climate Accords and President Xi Jinping has reiterated that China would set its own path on the issue of emissions and not be influenced by outside factors. That alone likely makes America’s and the West’s fossil fuel sacrifices on the climate altar both painful and pointless.”

The healthy and wealthy countries of the Germany, Australia, Great Britain, New Zealand, Canada, Japan, and all the EU, and the USA representing about one of the eight billion of the world’s population could literally shut down, and cease to exist, and the opposite of what the media tells us and believes will take place.

Emissions will be exploding from those poorer developing countries, i.e., the other seven billion on this planet. Unlike the wealthy countries that have huge economies that can subsidize any delusionally obsessed idea, these poorer countries dismal economies cannot subsidize themselves out of a paper bag!

Simply put, in these healthy and wealthy countries, every person, animal, or anything that causes emissions to harmfully rise could vanish off the face of the earth, or even die off, and global emissions will still explode in the coming years and decades ahead over the population and economic growth of India, Nigeria, China, Pakistan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Egypt, and Tanzania.

As Don Ritter recently pointed out, even more ironic (or insane), China dominates the world’s wind, solar and battery technologies, with their raw material supply chains and their manufacturing.

We are witnessing a geopolitical shift of historic proportions. Fossil fuel-friendly China and other autocratic oil producers will be the biggest winners; fossil fuel-repressing democratic America and the West the biggest losers.

Why are all the American military Generals that report to President Joe Biden, not asking the simple question: How will America run its military (ships, planes, and vehicles) without fuel?

While the richest billion population are intent on squandering their electricity legacy on weather -dependent so-called ‘renewables’, countries like India and China are building nuclear and coal-fired power plants at a staggering rate to provide their people with continuous uninterruptable electricity.

Autocratic China is the biggest beneficiary of all from the Western strategy of jumping out of an airplane without a parachute, i.e., abandoning fossil fuels before the West has identified a replacement for crude oil, to provide the products and fuels now demanded by its populace.

First published by CFACT.

https://heartland.org/opinion/without-a-replacement-abandoning-fossil-fuels-supports-china/

 

NOTE THAT CHINA RECOGNISES THE PROBLEM OF GLOBAL WARMING. CHINA JUST GOT HIT BY A FEW EXTREMES LATELY, INCLUDING TWO TYPHOONS AND RECORD HEAT....

 

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