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Marine heatwaves drive recurrent mass mortalities in the Mediterranean Sea

2022; Wiley; Volume: 28; Issue: 19 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/gcb.16301

1365-2486

Joaquim Garrabou, Daniel Gómez‐Gras, Alba Medrano, Carlo Cerrano, Massimo Ponti, Robert W. Schlegel, Nathaniel Bensoussan, Eva Turicchia, Maria Sini, Vasilis Gerovasileiou, Núria Teixidó, Alice Mirasole, Laura Tamburello, Emma Cebrián, Gil Rilov, Jean‐Baptiste Ledoux, Jamila Ben Souissi, Faten Khamassi, Raouia Ghanem, Mouloud Benabdi, Samir Grimes, Óscar Ocaña, Hocein Bazaïri, Bernat Hereu, Cristina Linares, Diego K. Kersting, Graciel la Rovira, Júlia Ortega, David Casals, Marta Pagès‐Escolà, Núria Margarit, Pol Capdevila, Jana Verdura, Alfonso A. Ramos‐Esplá, Andrés Izquierdo, Carmen Barberá, Esther Rubio‐Portillo, Irene Anton, Paula López‐Sendino, David Díaz, Maite Vázquez‐Luis, Carlos M. Duarte, Núria Marbà, Eneko Aspillaga, Free Espinosa, Daniele Grech, Ivan Guala, Ernesto Azzurro, Simone Farina, María Cristina Gambi, Giovanni Chimienti, Monica Montefalcone, Annalisa Azzola, Torcuato Pulido Mantas, Simonetta Fraschetti, Giulia Ceccherelli, Silvija Kipson, Tatjana Bakran‐Petricioli, Donat Petricioli, Carlos Jiménez, Stelios Katsanevakis, İnci Tüney Kızılkaya, Zafer Kızılkaya, Stéphane Sartoretto, Élodie Rouanet, Sandrine Ruitton, Steeve Comeau, Jean‐Pierre Gattuso, Jean‐Georges Harmelin,

Marine Bivalve and Aquaculture Studies

Climate change is causing an increase in the frequency and intensity of marine heatwaves (MHWs) and mass mortality events (MMEs) of marine organisms are one of their main ecological impacts. Here, we show that during the 2015-2019 period, the Mediterranean Sea has experienced exceptional thermal conditions resulting in the onset of five consecutive years of widespread MMEs across the basin. These MMEs affected thousands of kilometers of coastline from the surface to 45 m, across a range of marine habitats and taxa (50 taxa across 8 phyla). Significant relationships were found between the incidence of MMEs and the heat exposure associated with MHWs observed both at the surface and across depths. Our findings reveal that the Mediterranean Sea is experiencing an acceleration of the ecological impacts of MHWs which poses an unprecedented threat to its ecosystems' health and functioning. Overall, we show that increasing the resolution of empirical observation is critical to enhancing our ability to more effectively understand and manage the consequences of climate change.