Mediterranean Sea surface warming 1985–2006

Nykjær, Leo

doi:10.3354/cr00794

Cited by 191 publications

(139 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Nykjaer [11] found a high observation density of the Pathfinder SST dataset for the Mediterranean Sea with the monthly mean number of highest quality SST observations per 4 km pixel varying from about 10 in winter to about 30 in summer. The construction of the satellite-derived SST data for the Aegean Sea considered herein is based on a re-analysis of the AVHRR Pathfinder (version 5.0) SST timeseries of the Mediterranean Sea [26].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several observational studies based on in situ and/or satellite-derived data have demonstrated the rapid surface warming of the Mediterranean Sea during the last two decades [9][10][11]. The SST increasing trend was shown to be much larger in the eastern Mediterranean (as compared to the western basin) reaching about 0.05 C/yr during 1985-2006 [11] whilst even larger warming trends were obtained in the adjacent Black Sea [10,12]. These long-term SST warming trends were mainly associated with the global warming effects on the regional scale [10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Long-term sea surface temperature variability in the Aegean Sea

Skliris

Sofianos

Γκανάσος

et al. 2011

Advances in Oceanography and Limnology

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The inter-annual/decadal scale variability of the Aegean Sea Surface Temperature (SST) is investigated by means of long-term series of satellite-derived and in situ data. Monthly mean declouded SST maps are constructed over the period, based on a re-analysis of AVHRR Oceans Pathfinder optimally interpolated data over the Aegean Sea. Basin-average SST time series are also constructed using the ICOADS in situ data over . Results indicate a small SST decreasing trend until the early nineties, and then a rapid surface warming consistent with the acceleration of the SST rise observed on the global ocean scale. Decadal-scale SST anomalies were found to be negatively correlated with the winter North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index over the last 60 years suggesting that along with global warming effects on the regional scale, a part of the long-term SST variability in the Aegean Sea is driven by large scale atmospheric natural variability patterns. In particular, the acceleration of surface warming in the Aegean Sea began nearly simultaneously with the NAO index abrupt shift in the mid-nineties from strongly positive values to weakly positive/ negative values.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term sea surface temperature variability in the Aegean Sea

Skliris

Sofianos

Γκανάσος

et al. 2011

Advances in Oceanography and Limnology

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“…Recent studies [Criado-Aldanueva et al, 2008;Nykjaer, 2009, Skliris et al, 2012 based on satellite-derived SST data have shown that during roughly the last two decades there has been a sea surface warming trend of about 0.4-0.6 C/decade over the EMed and Aegean Seas. This warming effect could enhance stratification thus reducing DWF rates.…”

Section: Cretan Straits Exitmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dense intermediate water outflow from the Cretan Sea: A salinity driven, recurrent phenomenon, connected to thermohaline circulation changes

et al. 2014

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Data collected from different platforms in the Cretan Sea during the 2000s decade present evidence of gradually increasing salinity in the intermediate and deep intermediate layers after the middle of the decade. The observed gradual salt transport toward the deeper layers indicates contributions of dense water masses formed in various Aegean Sea subbasins. The accumulation of these saline and dense water masses in the Cretan Sea finally led to outflow from both Cretan Straits, with density greater than typical Levantine/Cretan Intermediate water but not dense enough to penetrate into the deep layers of the Eastern Mediterranean. We name this outflowing water mass as dense Cretan Intermediate Water (dCIW). A retrospective analysis of in situ data and literature references during the last four decades shows that similar events have occurred in the past in two occasions: (a) in the 1970s and (b) during the Eastern Mediterranean Transient (EMT) onset (1987)(1988)(1989)(1990)(1991). We argue that these salinity-driven Aegean outflows are mostly attributed to recurrent changes of the Eastern Mediterranean upper thermohaline circulation that create favorable dense water formation conditions in the Aegean Sea through salinity preconditioning. We identify these phenomena as ''EMT-like'' events and argue that in these cases internal thermohaline mechanisms dominate over atmospheric forcing in dense water production. However, intense atmospheric forcing over an already salinity preconditioned basin is indispensable for creating massive deep water outflow from the Cretan Sea, such as the EMT event.

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“…The Mediterranean Sea with its two Western and Eastern main basins, separated by the Straits of Sicily, and some smaller regional basins, can be regarded as a miniature ocean that is expected to react faster to global change than the open ocean [25]. Over the last decades, there appears to have been a warming trend attributed to global warming in deep [26] and surface waters [27,28]. A very recent study has shown that there is a high imprint of anthropogenic CO 2 , which has already affected Mediterranean pH by a decrease of 0.05 -0.14 pH units since pre-industrial times [29].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Calcification rates and the effect of ocean acidification on Mediterranean cold-water corals

et al. 2011

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Global environmental changes, including ocean acidification, have been identified as a major threat to scleractinian corals. General predictions are that ocean acidification will be detrimental to reef growth and that 40 to more than 80 per cent of present-day reefs will decline during the next 50 years. Coldwater corals (CWCs) are thought to be strongly affected by changes in ocean acidification owing to their distribution in deep and/or cold waters, which naturally exhibit a CaCO 3 saturation state lower than in shallow/warm waters. Calcification was measured in three species of Mediterranean cold-water scleractinian corals (Lophelia pertusa, Madrepora oculata and Desmophyllum dianthus) on-board research vessels and soon after collection. Incubations were performed in ambient sea water. The species M. oculata was additionally incubated in sea water reduced or enriched in CO 2. At ambient conditions, calcification rates ranged between 20.01 and 0.23% d 21 . Calcification rates of M. oculata under variable partial pressure of CO 2 (pCO 2 ) were the same for ambient and elevated pCO 2 (404 and 867 matm) with 0.06 + 0.06% d 21 , while calcification was 0.12 + 0.06% d 21 when pCO 2 was reduced to its pre-industrial level (285 matm). This suggests that present-day CWC calcification in the Mediterranean Sea has already drastically declined (by 50%) as a consequence of anthropogenic-induced ocean acidification.

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Mediterranean Sea surface warming 1985–2006

Cited by 191 publications

References 19 publications

Long-term sea surface temperature variability in the Aegean Sea

Long-term sea surface temperature variability in the Aegean Sea

Dense intermediate water outflow from the Cretan Sea: A salinity driven, recurrent phenomenon, connected to thermohaline circulation changes

Calcification rates and the effect of ocean acidification on Mediterranean cold-water corals

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