GLOBAL WARMING MAKING THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA HOTTER

THE pace in the rise in temperature of the Mediterranean triggered by global warming has moved up a gear over the last five to ten years, even though it was already on the increase by one degree centigrade every 25 years. A warning was sounded yesterday by Carlos Duarte, head of the newly-established Majorcan Coastal Investigation team, based at the Cap Ses Salines lighthouse on the south of the Island which has facilities for ten working scientists. Duarte pointed to the fact that maximum temperatures of the planet's seas, such as the Mediterranean, are gradually rising and research has shown specifically that in the area of the Balearic Islands, the thermometer reached 30 degrees in 2003, a figure which is 3.5 degrees higher than the usual maximum. Such an increase is meaning the loss of very important marine floral species in the region such as meadow grass (posidonia), a sea plant which acts as a kind of barometer, sensitive to variations in carbon dioxide and oxygen levels caused by climatic change. If current human disregard for the environment and global warming with its extreme changes in weather patterns continue, these native ocean plants which so typify the natural maritime landscape of the Balearics, could be “reduced by half within the space of ten years.” At the moment, a number of scientists are working with Duarte in Cabrera National Park which is a shining example of conserved marine flora and fauna. In 1991, the Cabrera archipelago was declared Spain's first protected maritime area, where conservationists were entrusted with the task of protecting the region's delicate ecosystem from the contaminating hand of man. Amongst the key figures charged with overseeing the project are Nuria Marba who is focussing particularly on the meadow grass; and Luis Santamaria who is studying the damage caused by species of flora and fauna which are not native to the Balearics and which colonise the islands in an invasive manner, such as rabbits and rats, unbalancing wildlife interdependence. The meadow grass is widespread throughout Cabrera National Park, a natural and safe breeding ground as access by tourists to the area is carefully controlled. No more than 500 can visit in any one summer, and even then are not allowed to stay overnight except in exceptional circumstances. Out in the Mediterranean off the south coast of Majorca, the park has been a stop-off point for Romans, Arabs, Christians and pirates. A late 14th century watch tower still remains as a lookout post. Cabrera has been an important haven for the meadow grass which is now noticeably covering less sea terrain than before.