Climatology of the Central-Northern Adriatic Sea

Abstract

It is well know that the ocean processes exert a great influence on global climate as well as affect the local climate of coastal areas (Russo et al., 2002). Within the Mediterranean region (see Fig. 1a), the presence of the Adriatic Sea influences the atmospheric properties of the surrounding regions over long and short time-scales, and has obviously a relevant influence on human activities and ecosystems (Boldrin et al., 2009).This Chapter will describe the main climatological characteristics of the northern-central Adriatic Sea (see Figure 1b) assessed on a human time-scale, i.e. the last few decades.