The Mediterranean Sea temperature record since the beginning of modern observations was set in 2023, with the average surface temperature increasing by more than 1 degree Celsius in 25 years, there has been a gradual increase in temperature since 2013 in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea, spreading northwards, and warming of deeper layers, up to 800 meters. This is the conclusion reached by ENEA and INGV within the MACMAP project in collaboration with GNV, the ferry company of the MSC Group. This was reported on November 8 by the Italian publication AGI.

In addition to the increase in the average temperature of the Earth's surface, the “thermal photography” of the Mediterranean, carried out during 100 campaigns when more than 3 thousand probes were launched, also revealed an increase in the deeper layers (100-450 meters: +0.4°C - +0.6°C; 450-800 meters: +0.3°C - +0.5°C). In addition, the analysis of measurements shows that the warming was more than 0.4°C from 2013 to 2016, followed by a slight decrease and stabilization in the following years, and then started to increase progressively from 2021 to September 2023, when it reached its maximum.

To determine the magnitude of the phenomenon, it is worth noting not only the brevity of the time span during which this change occurred, but also the fact that to cause the temperature increase measured between 2015 and 2023 in a layer between 200 and 800 meters deep would require an amount of energy dozens of times the annual electricity consumption in all of Italy.

“Historical series of temperature data along the same route,” explain Enea researchers, including Franco Resegetti, who personally conducted the campaigns, ”are crucial for climate research because they allow us to assess the temporal evolution, highlighting possible variations to understand whether warming or cooling has occurred over time in the water column in the monitored area.

“What does the near future hold for us? The readings of the available models speak in favor of a possible further increase in water temperature, but the validity of these predictions can only be confirmed by the measurements that the study participants intend to continue making, starting with the hundredth campaign scheduled for next December,” summarizes Simone Simoncelli, INGV researcher.