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| Mauve Stinger Jellyfish - Hans Hillewaert - Wikimedia Commons |
Climate change is bringing tropical fish into the Med, and jellyfish are taking over from fish.
The Mediterranean Sea represents less than one percent of the world's ocean, yet it is home to almost a quarter of a million different marine species - a fifth of which can only be found in the Med (endemic species). Global warming is altering the ecosystem 'beyond recognition'.
The Mediterranean Sea
An atlas makes the med look like a big lake with a narrow opening to the Atlantic through the Straights of Gibraltar, and one could be forgiven for assuming that it is just an ordinary bit of the sea. Nothing could be further from the truth:- evaporation from the surface is greater than the inflow from the rivers (if the Straights of Gibraltar were blocked then the Med would eventually dry up) - so the salinity is higher than that of the water coming in from the Atlantic, and this salinity increases the further one moves East, (as does water temperature)
- underwater ridges divide the Med into an number of different bodies of water - each with its own peculiar characteristics
Jul 7, 2011
John Blatchford
Read more at Suite101: Mediterranean Sea and Global Warming | Suite101.com http://www.suite101.com/content/mediterranean-sea-and-global-warming-a378660#ixzz1RQQJ9AyL
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