Mediterranean Sea surface temperature on Turkish coast surpasses unprecedented 32 °C

Duvar English

The August measurements by Turkey’s Meteorological Service, reported a record-breaking sea surface temperature of 32.2 °C in Adana province, marking an unprecedented high for the Eastern Mediterranean. 

The August data also showed temperatures of 31.9 degrees in Mersin province’s Akdeniz Işıklı Buoy, 31.6 degrees in its Yenişehir district, and 31.5 degrees in Hatay’s İskenderun district. 

Other high-temperature locations in the Mediterranean included various districts of Antalya province, with Kaş at 29.5 degrees, Finike at 29.3 degrees, and Alanya at 29.1 degrees.

The Mediterranean’s sea surface temperature exceeding 30 degrees, which had previously been considered extreme even at 28 degrees, posed significant risks to the ecosystem, according to a report by DHA. 

Record-high temperatures in the Mediterranean were matched by similar increases in the Aegean, Marmara, and Black Seas.

Meteorological measurements recorded a temperature of 29 degrees in Aegean Aydın and 28.6 degrees in Çanakkale, while two districts of İzmir reached 28.5 and 27.7 degrees, respectively, setting records for the Aegean Sea. 

In the Sea of Marmara, temperatures hit 28 degrees at Istanbul’s Silivri, and 27.9 degrees at the southern shore of the sea in Yalova province. 

In the Black Sea, the highest temperature was 28.1 degrees in the northern Giresun province, followed by 27.8 degrees in Zonguldak and 27.5 degrees in Artvin, Sinop, and Samsun provinces.

Prof. Dr. Barış Önol from the Meteorological Engineering Department at Istanbul Technical University highlighted the record-breaking increases in sea surface temperatures, following warnings of an extremely hot summer and autumn. 

Evaluating maps shared by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), Prof. Dr. Önol warned that temperatures will approach 32 degrees all along Turkey’s Mediterranean coast in the following week. 

“Sharing the planet will become much more difficult in the future,” noted the expert.

Dr. Erol Kesici, a scientific advisor to the Turkish Association for the Conservation of Nature (TTKD), warned that rising temperatures could create serious feeding challenges for species with increased environmental resistance. He stressed that these changes would have a profoundly negative impact on the natural balance of the world and its regions. 

Dr. Kesici issued a stark warning, stating, “The adverse conditions arising in water, land, and air due to rising temperatures are disrupting ecological balance and biodiversity. This could lead to changes in the habitats of species from hot environments, potentially causing the extinction of native species and increasing migration and competition for food and oxygen.”

The Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM), based in Barcelona, Spain, reported similar findings. Accordingly, the water temperature of the Mediterranean had reached record levels. 

The average water temperature in the Mediterranean rose to 28.9 degrees Celsius on Thursday, August 15. Previously, the highest recorded water temperature in the Mediterranean was 28.7 degrees in July 2023. This marked the second consecutive year of record-breaking water temperatures in the Mediterranean.

Before 2023, the highest water temperature recorded in the Mediterranean was 28.2 degrees in August 2003. Measurements since the beginning of August recorded water temperatures exceeding 30 degrees off the coasts of Egypt, Monaco, Corsica, and Valencia, according to reporting by the German online news outlet DW Türkçe. 

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) identified the Mediterranean as one of the regions most affected by climate change. The panel noted that the Mediterranean ecosystem had undergone significant changes since the 1980s, with declining biodiversity and the spread of invasive species. According to the IPCC's projections, if global temperature increases exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels, 20 percent of the fish and invertebrate species in the Eastern Mediterranean could become extinct.