Mediterranean sea surface temperatures have surged to unprecedented levels this week, with buoys off Mallorca and Italy's Ligurian coast recording readings that exceeded the instruments' previous measurement limits.
Off the Balearic island of Mallorca, a buoy operated by Spanish State Ports near Sa Dragonera registered 33.02 degrees Celsius, which the national weather service Aemet said would be the highest buoy-recorded sea temperature in the Mediterranean if confirmed. The reading surpassed the previous buoy record by more than one degree. In the Ligurian Sea, the environmental monitoring agency Arpal recalibrated its Capo Mele buoy to measure up to 35 degrees after it logged 30.3 degrees on 3 August, its highest reading since deployment in 2012.
Current water temperatures in the western Mediterranean sit roughly four degrees above long-term averages, a deviation scientists attribute primarily to human-driven climate change. The anomaly raises the risk of severe autumn storms and stresses marine ecosystems.