Editing Mediterranean Sea (section)

===Climate change===
Because of the short residence time of its waters, the Mediterranean Sea is considered a hot-spot for climate change records,<ref name="Giorgi, F. 2006">{{cite journal | last=Giorgi | first=F. | title=Climate change hot-spots | journal=Geophysical Research Letters | volume=33 | issue=8 | date=2006 | issn=0094-8276 | doi=10.1029/2006GL025734 | page=| bibcode=2006GeoRL..33.8707G }}</ref> registering indeed marked increases in temperature across the entire water column since the 1950s.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Bethoux | first1=J. P. | last2=Gentili | first2=B. | last3=Raunet | first3=J. | last4=Tailliez | first4=D. | title=Warming trend in the western Mediterranean deep water | journal=Nature | publisher=Springer Science and Business Media LLC | volume=347 | issue=6294 | year=1990 | issn=0028-0836 | doi=10.1038/347660a0 | pages=660–662| bibcode=1990Natur.347..660B }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Climate warming and related changes in Mediterranean marine biota - an overview |journal=CIESM Monographs |date=2008 |volume=35 |pages=5–21 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233883451}}</ref> According to climate projections, the decrease in precipitation over the region will lead to more evaporation, ultimately increasing marine salinity.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Adloff | first1=Fanny | last2=Somot | first2=Samuel | last3=Sevault | first3=Florence | last4=Jordà | first4=Gabriel | last5=Aznar | first5=Roland | last6=Déqué | first6=Michel | last7=Herrmann | first7=Marine | last8=Marcos | first8=Marta | last9=Dubois | first9=Clotilde | last10=Padorno | first10=Elena | last11=Alvarez-Fanjul | first11=Enrique | last12=Gomis | first12=Damià | title=Mediterranean Sea response to climate change in an ensemble of twenty first century scenarios | journal=Climate Dynamics | volume=45 | issue=9–10 | date=2015 | issn=0930-7575 | doi=10.1007/s00382-015-2507-3 | pages=2775–2802 | bibcode=2015ClDy...45.2775A |display-authors=4}}</ref> As a result of both temperature and salinity increases, the Mediterranean Sea is likely to become more stratified by the end of the 21st century, with notable consequences on water circulation and [[biogeochemistry]]. The stratification and warming have already led the eastern Mediterranean to become a net source of CO<sub>2</sub> to the atmosphere<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sisma-Ventura |first1=Guy |last2=Bialik |first2=Or M. |last3=Yam |first3=Ruth |last4=Herut |first4=Barak |last5=Silverman |first5=Jacob |title=p CO 2 variability in the surface waters of the ultra-oligotrophic Levantine Sea: Exploring the air–sea CO 2 fluxes in a fast warming region |journal=Marine Chemistry |date=November 2017 |volume=196 |pages=13–23 |doi=10.1016/j.marchem.2017.06.006|bibcode=2017MarCh.196...13S}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wimart-Rousseau |first1=Cathy |last2=Wagener |first2=Thibaut |last3=Álvarez |first3=Marta |last4=Moutin |first4=Thierry |last5=Fourrier |first5=Marine |last6=Coppola |first6=Laurent |last7=Niclas-Chirurgien |first7=Laure |last8=Raimbault |first8=Patrick |last9=D'Ortenzio |first9=Fabrizio |last10=Durrieu de Madron |first10=Xavier |last11=Taillandier |first11=Vincent |last12=Dumas |first12=Franck |last13=Conan |first13=Pascal |last14=Pujo-Pay |first14=Mireille |last15=Lefèvre |first15=Dominique |title=Seasonal and Interannual Variability of the {{CO2}} System in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea: A Case Study in the North Western Levantine Basin |journal=Frontiers in Marine Science |date=2021 |volume=8 |doi=10.3389/fmars.2021.649246 |issn=2296-7745|doi-access=free|bibcode=2021FrMaS...849246W |display-authors=4}}</ref> notably during summer. 
 
Human-induced climate change appears to play a growing role in the development of [[marine heatwaves]] that have become a prominent subject of research in recent years, particularly in the Mediterranean where a number of areas in both western and eastern sub-basins now experience peaks of temperatures, along with more frequent, more intense, more prolonged warming events than ever seen on record. These events, mainly driven by a combination of oceanic and atmospheric factors, are often triggered by high pressure systems that will reduce cloud cover and increase solar absorption by the sea surface.  Their impacts on marine ecosystems, such as mass mortality in benthic communities, coral bleaching events, disruptions in fishery catches and shifts in species distributions, can be devastating.<ref>Marine heatwaves in the Mediterranean Sea and beyond - an overview. 2024. pp. 5–24 in ''CIESM Monograph 51'' (F. Briand, Ed.) ISSN 1726-5886 [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/384727584]</ref>  Extreme warming can lead to [[biodiversity loss]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Verdura |first1=Jana |last2=Linares |first2=Cristina |last3=Ballesteros |first3=Enric |last4=Coma |first4=Rafel |last5=Uriz |first5=María J. |last6=Bensoussan |first6=Nathaniel |last7=Cebrian |first7=Emma |title=Biodiversity loss in a Mediterranean ecosystem due to an extreme warming event unveils the role of an engineering gorgonian species |journal=Scientific Reports |date=December 2019 |volume=9 |issue=1 |page=5911 |doi=10.1038/s41598-019-41929-0|pmid=30976028 |pmc=6459914 |bibcode=2019NatSR...9.5911V |s2cid=108292968|display-authors=4}}</ref> and presents an existential threat to some habitats<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jordà |first1=Gabriel |last2=Marbà |first2=Núria |last3=Duarte |first3=Carlos M. |title=Mediterranean seagrass vulnerable to regional climate warming |journal=Nature Climate Change |date=November 2012 |volume=2 |issue=11 |pages=821–824 |doi=10.1038/nclimate1533|bibcode=2012NatCC...2..821J}}</ref> while making conditions more hospitable to invasive tropical species.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Grossowicz |first1=Michal |last2=Bialik |first2=Or M. |last3=Shemesh |first3=Eli |last4=Tchernov |first4=Dan |last5=Vonhof |first5=Hubert B. |last6=Sisma-Ventura |first6=Guy |title=Ocean warming is the key filter for successful colonization of the migrant octocoral Melithaea erythraea (Ehrenberg, 1834) in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea |journal=PeerJ |date=24 June 2020 |volume=8 |page=e9355 |doi=10.7717/peerj.9355|pmid=32612887 |pmc=7320722 |doi-access=free |display-authors=4}}</ref>