Recent long-term variations of the Mediterranean Sea state

Abstract

The Mediterranean Sea presents, according to the recent literature, the largest warming rate of the whole global ocean. The amplification of climate change effects in this regional basin can be ascribed to its peculiar topography and thermohaline circulation. Some major changes of its water masses characteristics and its circulation have been recorded by observations and reproduced by model reanalysis. An overview of the main Mediterranean Sea variations from 1950 until nowadays will be presented considering the latest Mediterranean Sea climatological product computed from historical in situ temperature and salinity data within the framework of SeaDataCloud project and the existing reanalysis products from INGV and the Copernicus Marine Service. One of the principal indicator of global warming is the Ocean Heat Content. The estimate and evolution of the Mediterranean basin OHC, computed from several and multi-year products indicates an evident spatial variability in different sub-regions and in different depth layers as a consequence of the hydrodynamics.