Marine heatwave in the western Mediterranean
The temperature of the surface water has exceeded 33°C in Mallorca
BarcelonaSurely many of you, upon arriving at the beach, have commented with your companions about the high temperature of the sea this year. Well yes, it's not just a feeling: a large part of the Mediterranean, and specifically its western sector, has been experiencing an intense marine heatwave since the end of May.
In fact, according to the Mediterranean Monitoring System (MEDMOS) of the Mediterranean Environmental Studies Centre (CEAM), currently about 62% of the Mediterranean is under marine heatwave conditions, with an average surface water temperature in the Mediterranean of 28.2°C, almost two degrees above the average value of recent decades.
This marine heatwave, which is characterized by the persistence of sea water temperature values above normal, has left exceptional records in some parts of the sea in the Balearic Islands.
A new record
This is the case, for example, of the 33.02 °C measured on August 5th in the afternoon at the buoy that Ports de l'Estat has near Sa Dragonera, west of Mallorca, which constitute a new record in the Mediterranean. Also noteworthy are the 32.36 °C recorded during the afternoon of last Saturday, August 8th, at the Mahón buoy, a record at this observation point.
The Catalan coast is also clearly suffering from the heatwave. In this case, the available measurements also show exceptionally high values. The buoys of Barcelona and Tarragona, located near the homonymous ports, exceeded 30 °C this Sunday, the maximum for this summer, while the one at Cap de Begur, located 35 km from the coast, was close to 27 °C.
The same trend is confirmed through the data measured by observer Josep Pascual, who for more than forty years has been measuring the sea water temperature at l'Estartit, just over a mile from the Medes Islands. His last observation, on July 31st, showed a sea surface water temperature of 25.5 °C, therefore, 2.3 °C above the average for the period 1998-2022. At a depth of 20 meters, this positive anomaly was even greater: it reached 3 °C above normal.
