The overheated Mediterranean promises us storms in the fall

by time news
On the Mediterranean coasts (here, the beach of Sainte-Maxime), the water temperature is 5°C higher than normal for the season, and is around 30°C. ROBERT PALOMBA/Only France via AFP

DECRYPTION – The meeting of hot air evaporated from the water and cold air from the atmosphere promotes violent phenomena.

Even for the most cautious, swimming is particularly easy this summer on the Mediterranean coasts. And for good reason, the water temperature is 5°C higher than normal for the season, and is around 30°C over the entire western part of the basin. “This exceptional situation is linked to the concomitance of two factorsexplains Caroline Jane Muller, CNRS researcher on secondment to the Austrian Institute of Science and Technology. We are experiencing a particularly hot and dry summer. To this exceptional heat is added a total absence of wind. The sea is not stirred at all and accumulates heat.

The surface waters began to heat up, then the heat spread throughout the water column. And this will continue: “Marine heat waves experience a much stronger inertia than terrestrial heat wavescontinues the scientist. So they last a very long time. In this case, there is no reason to see the water temperature decrease before the end of…

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