The Mediterranean System: a hotspot for climate change and adaptation

ACCADEMIA NAZIONALE DEI LINCEI | XXII GIORNATA MONDIALE DELL’ACQUA

Because of its strategic location, surrounded by European countries in the north, the North African and Middle Eastern countries in the south-east, the Mediterranean region is obviously economically and socially very important. Its scientific importance has furthermore been recognized in the latest IPCC AR6 report, “The physical science basis“, 2021, chapter 10, section 10.6.4, with the statement “The Mediterranean is expected to be one of the most prominent and vulnerable climate change hotspots”. Hence it is urgent to examine the adaptation measures required by this imminent climatic changes to mitigate their effects. Because of its small dimensions and of its position, the Mediterranean is amenable to easily conducted observational surveys aimed to investigate ocean-atmosphere interactions as well as the dynamics of the currents responsible for ocean heat transport. The latter one is arguably the major factor controlling climate over decadal to centennial time scales. The consequences range from progressive sea level rise to meteorological and marine extreme events, droughts and desertification, among others. It is crucial to provide to the policy makers a most accurate and credible scenario of the factors controlling public health, agricultural and industrial productivities as well as of the increase of disastrous events. The symposium aims to present to the international scientific community a comprehensive picture of well-established knowledge as well as of the still open questions, due either to lack of necessary data or to methodological deficiencies.

Programme »