Aug. 17, 2024
The surface of the Mediterranean Sea last week alarmingly reached its highest recorded temperature.
According to the Spanish Maritime Institute, the daily median temperature of the Mediterranean Sea on Thursday, August 15th was 28.9 degrees Celsius (84 degrees Fahrenheit).
Persistent marine heatwave in the Mediterranean
The record-breaking temperature has not come as a surprise to those following recent meteorological and climatological data. Due to a prolonged marine heatwave that has persisted in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea, there has been one record-breaking temperature after the other.
A shocking 4°C to 5°C above the 1991 to 2020 average has been recorded across half of the surface of one of the world’s most well-known seas. The affected area is not concentrated in one place, as it actually extends from the eastern to the western basins, covering nearly the entirety of the sea’s length.
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