SANTANDER – Aemet warns that the surface water of the sea is 3 degrees above normal and in the Cantabrian Sea along the Spanish north coast even 4 degrees more.
The situation is similar in the Balearic Islands with a sea temperature of 28 degrees and on the Spanish east coast 26 degrees, while the temperature drops to 23 degrees only in the south.
The Cantabrian Sea is getting warmer
Scientists are concerned about the phenomenon of the Cantabrian Sea warming. Expert oceanographers and meteorologists warn that the sea temperature should be between 18 and 19 degrees. That is a far cry from the 26 degrees recorded on Wednesday at San Lorenzo Beach in Gijón.
Consequences for marine ecosystem
The explanation lies in the lack of wind, which usually stirs up the deep sea water at this time of the year, cooling the surface. And while some fail to see the risks, rising sea temperatures could have serious consequences for the marine ecosystem. It can cause destabilisation in algal communities and plankton. Experts warn that the phenomenon could last all summer.
The weather institute warned a month ago about the particularly high temperature of the seawater in the north of Spain. At the beginning of June, temperatures in several parts of the Mediterranean Sea and the Canary Islands were already reaching values between 2.5 and 3.5 °C above normal, but in the Bay of Biscay the anomaly was already overwhelming: in the north, and are therefore still, the waters up to 4 °C higher than usual.
Anomaly predominates worldwide
The Cantabrian Sea reached a temperature of 20 degrees in the first week of June. A historical record. But warm waters are not exclusive to Spain: the anomaly is predominant worldwide, especially in the North Atlantic, while the El Niño phenomenon is already underway in the equatorial eastern Pacific.
In 2022, records were already broken in the maritime areas around Spain, with an average of 19.8 °C, a value 0.7 °C higher than the average of 1981-2010.
Also read: High water temperature trend in the Mediterranean Sea continues
