Bad News from The Mediterranean Sea #1

The Mediterranean Sea is super hot. From Spain to the Balkans, including Portugal, Italy, and Greece, the first heat waves set new temperature records between late June and early July. In El Granado, Spain, it reached 46 degrees Celsius, which is a new high for June. In many places in Southern Europe and the Balkans, temperatures went over 40 degrees Celsius. These temperatures used to only happen in late July.

In Serbia, June 25th was the hottest day ever recorded so far. In Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, it reached 38.8 degrees Celsius, which is the highest ever for that city (BBC). In Paris, part of the Eiffel Tower was closed because of the heat. In Greece, south of Athens and in Crete, the first fires have already started. In Turkey, more than 50,000 people had to leave their homes because of fires. In Italy, the Ministry of Health put 21 out of 27 cities under a "red alert" because of the extreme heat.

According to the United Nations group on climate change, heat waves are happening more often, are stronger, and last longer. This is because of climate change caused by people.

It's not just the air and land, but also the sea that feels the unusual warming. On June 22, the European Earth observation program, Copernicus, reported a big heat wave in the western Mediterranean Sea. This was especially between the Gulf of Lion and the Tyrrhenian Sea. Surface temperatures there were more than 5 degrees Celsius higher than usual for that time of year.

The next day, the Mediterranean Environmental Studies Center found the average temperature of the Mediterranean Sea was 25 degrees Celsius. This high temperature could make extreme weather worse and harm the balance of sea life (Costa Blanca Daily). A few days later, on June 29, Copernicus reported a sea temperature of 26 degrees Celsius. This was the highest ever recorded for June.