Even for the most cautious, swimming is especially easy on the shores of the Mediterranean this summer. And for good reason, water temperatures are 5°C above normal for the season and around 30°C throughout the western part of the basin. “This exceptional situation is connected with the combination of two factorsexplains Caroline Jane Müller, CNRS researcher on secondment at the Austrian Institute of Science and Technology. We are experiencing a particularly hot and dry summer. This exceptional heat is compounded by the complete absence of wind. The sea does not mix at all and accumulates heat.
The surface waters began to warm, then the heat spread deeper into the water column. And so it will continue. “Sea heat waves experience much stronger inertia than land heat wavescontinues the scientist. They last too long. In this case, there is no reason to see the water temperature drop until…
Source: Le Figaro
