Record temperature in the Mediterranean:30 degree water in Nice

The water of the Mediterranean Sea on the coast in front of Nice, France, has reached an all-time record, beating the maximum recorded in 2023.

Certainly, for the thousands of holidaymakers who flock to the beaches of the city these days Southern France, the defense from suffocating heat passes for a dive into the sea.Some, however, may have been surprised by the lack of refreshment guaranteed by the waters of the river Mediterranean.The reason is both simple and disturbing:according to the data published by the specialized site Infoclimat, the shallow waters in front of the beach Nice they recorded a temperature record.In fact, the Mediterranean had never reached 30 degrees centigrade.

The pressure of climate change on the Mediterranean

The event, which is particularly worrying from a climate point of view, was recorded between 4.30pm and 5pm on Monday 5 August.The previous all-time high was reached at the same location on July 20 last year, when the mercury had reached 29.5 degrees.

If the impressions collected on site among the bathers, e reported by the broadcaster Bfmtv, differ markedly from each other.What is clear, however, is that the pressure of climate changes it is also increasingly greater in our seas.In fact, for a long time the Mediterranean marks record temperatures, who are daughters of global warming caused by anthropogenic activities.But there is also the other side of the coin:a particularly warm sea means a strong increase in the risk of extreme weather phenomena.With all that this entails for the security of the countries bordering the basin.

“With the climate crisis, this is an expected phenomenon”

“This increase in temperature that we find on the surfaces of the oceans and seas is unfortunately expected, as it is the result of climate change", confirms Romaric Cinotti, deputy head of the forecasting and climatology service of Météo France South-East.“This – he continues – is one of the important effects, since the Mediterranean is one of the most sensitive in the face of rising global average temperatures."

Excessively warm waters also cause the temperature to change profoundly biodiversity marine, with new species appearing on the coasts, such as tropical fish which were spotted off the coast of the French Riviera.A phenomenon that can harm native fauna, which could be severely affected by the consequences of "alien" species.

Still 4.5 degrees above average in the southern French sea

Finally, what is worrying is the duration of the phenomena.Although 30 degrees is probably a peak, the sea water temperature in Nice is still expected to be around 28 degrees in the next few days.That is to say 4.5 degrees above than the average for the period.