Mediterranean Sea

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The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by a Mediterranean Basin and almost completely covered by land: to the north by Southern Europe and Anatolia, to the south by North Africa and to the east by the Levant. Although the ocean is sometimes considered part of the Atlantic Ocean, it is usually identified as a separate water body. Geological evidence shows that some 5.9 million years ago, the Mediterranean was cut off from the Atlantic and partially or completely dry for a period of about 600,000 years, Messinian salinity crisis, before being replenished by Zanclean floods some 5.3 million years ago.

The Mediterranean Sea has an average depth of 1,500 m (4,900 ft) and the deepest point is 5,266 m (17,280 ft) at Calypso Deep in the Ionian Sea. The sea is bordered to the north by Europe, east by Asia, and in the south by Africa. Located between latitude 30 Â ° and 46 Â ° LU and longitude 6 Â ° W and 36 Â ° BT. Its northwestern length, from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Gulf of Iskenderun, on the south-west coast of Turkey, is approximately 4,000 km (2,500 miles). The length of the north-south sea is average, from the southern coast of Croatia to Libya, approximately 800 km (500 miles). The Mediterranean Sea, including the Marmara Sea (linked by Dardanella to the Aegean Sea), has a surface area of ​​about 2,510,000 sq km (970,000 sq mi).

The sea is an important route for traders and travelers of ancient times that allow trade and cultural exchange between people who appear in the region. The history of the Mediterranean region is very important to understand the origins and development of many modern societies.

The countries around the Mediterranean in a clockwise order are Spain, France, Monaco, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco; Malta and Cyprus are island nations at sea. In addition, the Gaza Strip and British Overseas Territories Gibraltar and Akrotiri and Dhekelia have coastlines at sea.

Video Mediterranean Sea

Nama dan etimologi

Ancient Greeks call the Mediterranean people simply? ??????? 'Sea' or sometimes? ?????? ??????? 'The Great Sea' ,? ??????? ??????? 'Our Sea', or? ??????? ? ???? ???? 'the sea around us'. The Romans called it the Mare Magnum Sea Sea or Mare Internum Internal Sea and, beginning with the Roman Empire, Mare Nostrum Our Sea '. The term Mare Mediterr? Neum came later: Solinus apparently used it in the 3rd century, but the earliest surviving witnesses were in the 6th century, in Isidore, Seville. It means 'in the middle of the land, the interior' in Latin, the medius medius 'middle', terra 'land, earth' and -? Neus 'has properties'. The Latin word is the Greek broth ????????? 'outback', from ????? 'in the middle' and ????? 'Earth' (from 'earth, earth'). The original meaning may be 'sea in the middle of the earth', not 'sea covered by soil'.

The Carthaginians call it the "Syrian Sea". In the ancient Syrian texts, the Phoenician epic and in the Hebrew Bible, it is especially known as the "Great Sea" (HaYam HaGadol <34>, Number 34 : 6,7; Yosua 1: 4, 9: 1, 15:47; Yehezkiel 47: 10,15,20) or just as "the Sea" (1 Kings 5: 9; 1 Mac 14:34, 15:11); However, it is also called the "Hinder Sea" (because it's located on the west coast of Greater Syria or the Holy Land (and hence behind people facing east), which sometimes - translated as "the Western Sea", (Deuteronomy 11:24; Joel 2:20). Another name is the "Ocean of the Philistines" (?????????????;, Exodus 23:31), from the people who inhabit most of its beaches near Israel. In Modern Hebrew, it is called HaYam HaTikhon (?????? ??????????) 'Middle Sea'.

In modern Arabic, known as al-Ba'r [al-Abya?] Al-Mutawassi? ( ????? [??????] ??????? ) 'Laut Tengah [Putih ] '. In the Arabic and older Arabic literature, it is Ba? R al-R? M (?) ( ??? ????? or ???????? }) 'Roman Sea' or 'Roman Sea'. At first, the name only refers to the Eastern Mediterranean, but then expanded to the entire Mediterranean. Other Arabic names are Ba? R al - ?? m (?) ( ???? ???????? ) 'Syrian Sea' and Ba ? r al-Maghrib ( ????????? ) 'Sea from the West'.

In Turkey, it is Akdeniz 'White Sea'; in Ottoman, ?? ????, which sometimes only means the Aegean Sea. The origin of the name is unclear, as it is not known in earlier Greek, Byzantine or Islamic sources. This may contrast with the Black Sea. In Persian, the name is translated as Ba? R-i Saf? D , which is also used in Ottoman Turkish later. This is probably the origin of the Greek everyday ????? ???????

Maps Mediterranean Sea

History

Ancient civilizations

Some ancient civilizations are located around the Mediterranean coast and are strongly influenced by its proximity to the sea. It provides routes for trade, colonization, and war, as well as food (from fishing and gathering other seafood) to various communities throughout the ages.

Due to shared climates, geology, and access to the sea, Mediterranean-centered cultures tend to have several levels of culture and history intertwined.

Two of the most famous Mediterranean civilizations in classical antiquity were the Greek and Phoenician city states, both of which extensively colonized the Mediterranean coastline. Later, when Augustus established the Roman Empire, the Romans referred to the Mediterranean as Mare Nostrum ("Our Sea"). For the next 400 years, the Roman Empire fully controlled the Mediterranean Sea and almost all its coastal territory from Gibraltar to the Levant.

Darius I of Persia, who conquered Ancient Egypt, built a canal connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea. The Darius canal is wide enough for two triremas to pass each other with an extended oar, and takes four days to traverse.

Medieval and royal

The Western Roman Empire collapsed around 476 AD. Meanwhile the eastern region was again dominant when Roman rule lived in the Byzantine Empire formed in the 4th century from the eastern part of the Roman Empire. Another power emerged in the seventh century, and with it Islam, which soon swept from the east; at its greatest level, the Arab Empire controls 75% of the Mediterranean region and leaves a lasting imprint on its east and south coasts.

But Europe began to rise again, as more organized and centralized countries began to form in the Middle Ages after the Renaissance in the 12th century.

The Ottoman Empire based in Anatolia continued to grow, and in 1453 extinguished the Byzantine Empire with the Conquest of Constantinople. The Ottomans ruled most of the sea in the 16th century and maintained a naval base in southern France (1543-1544), Algeria and Tunisia. Barbarossa, the famous Ottoman captain is the symbol of this domination by the battle of Preveza (1538). The battle of Djerba (1560) marks the peak of Ottoman naval domination in the Mediterranean. As the naval forces of the European powers increased, they faced an Ottoman expansion in the region when the Battle of Lepanto (1571) examined the forces of the Ottoman Navy. This is the last sea battle to be done especially between galai-galai.

Barbary pirates from North Africa prey on Christian voyages and coastlines in the Western Mediterranean Sea. According to Robert Davis, from the 16th to the 19th century, pirates captured 1 million to 1.25 million Europeans as slaves.

The development of oceanic voyages began to affect the whole of the Mediterranean. In the past, most trade between Western and Eastern Europe had passed through the region, but after the 1490s, the development of the sea route to the Indian Ocean allowed the import of Asian spices and other goods through Atlantic ports in Western Europe.

the 21st century and migration

In 2013 the Maltese president described the Mediterranean Sea as a "graveyard" because of the large number of migrants who drowned there after their ship was overturned. European Parliamentary President Martin Schulz said in 2014 that Europe's migration policy "turns the Mediterranean into a grave" refers to the number of refugees drowning in the region as a direct result of the policy. An Azerbaijan official described the sea as "a burial place... where people die".

Following the 2013 Lampedusa limestone, the Italian government decided to strengthen the national system for a Mediterranean Sea patrol by authorizing "Mare Nostrum Operations", a military and humanitarian mission to rescue migrants and arrest immigrant merchants. In 2015, more than one million migrants cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe.

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Geography

The Mediterranean Sea is connected to the Atlantic Ocean by the Strait of Gibraltar (known in Homer's writings as "Pillars of Hercules") in the west and to the Sea of ​​Marmara and the Black Sea, by Dardanella and Bosporus, to the East. The Marmara Sea (Dardanelles) is often considered part of the Mediterranean Sea, while the Black Sea is generally not. The 163 km (111 mi) Suez Suez Tunnel in the southeast connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea.

The great islands of the Mediterranean include Cyprus, Crete, Euboea, Rhodes, Lesbos, Chios, Kefalonia, Corfu, Limnos, Samos, Naxos and Andros in the Eastern Mediterranean; Sicily, Cres, Krk, Bra ?, Hvar, Pag, Kor? Ula and Malta in the Mediterranean; Sardinia, Corsica, and the Balearic Islands: Ibiza, Majorca, and Menorca in the Western Mediterranean.

The typical Mediterranean climate has a hot, humid and dry summer and cool winters and rain. Plants in this region include olives, grapes, oranges, tangerines, and cork.

Extent

The International Hydrographic Organization establishes the boundaries of the Mediterranean Sea as follows:

Stretching from the Strait of Gibraltar in the west to the entrance to the Dardanelles and the Suez Canal to the east, the Mediterranean Sea is bordered by the shores of Europe, Africa and Asia, and is divided into two deep basins:

• West Basin:
  • To the west: The line that connects the extremities of Cape Trafalgar (Spain) and Cape Spartel (Africa).
  • To the northeast: the west coast of Italy. In the Straits of Messina a line connecting the northern extremes of Tanjung Paci (15 Â ° 42'E) with Tanjung Peloro, the eastern part of Sicily Island. North coast of Sicily.
  • To the east: The line connecting Cape Lilibeo to the west of Sicily ( 37Ã, Â ° 47? N 12Ã, Â ° 22? E ), through Adventure Bank to Cape Bon (Tunisia).
• Eastern Basin:
  • To the west: The northeastern and eastern border of the Western Basin.
  • In the northeast: The line that connects Kum Kale (26 Â ° 11'E) and Cape Helles, west entrance to Dardanelles.
  • To the southeast: Entrance to the Suez Canal.
  • To the east: the shores of Syria and Israel.

Oceanography

Being almost landlocked affects conditions in the Mediterranean Sea: for example, the tide is very limited as a result of the narrow relationship with the Atlantic Ocean. The Mediterranean Sea is characterized and immediately recognizable in deep blue.

Evaporation greatly exceeds rainfall and river runoff in the Mediterranean, a fact very important for water circulation within the basin. Evaporation is very high in the east, causing water levels to decrease and salinity rising eastward. Salinity at a depth of 5 m is 3.8%.

The pressure gradient pushes relatively cool, low salinity water from the Atlantic across the basin; it warms up and becomes saltier as it moves east, then sinks in the Levant region and circulates westward, to spill over into the Strait of Gibraltar. Thus, sea water flows eastward in the Strait surface waters, and westward below; once in the Atlantic, this chemically different Mediterranean Intermediate Water can survive thousands of kilometers away from its source.

The temperature of water in the deepest part of the Mediterranean Sea is 13.2 Â ° C (55.8 Â ° F).

Coastal countries

The following countries have coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea:

• North coast (from west to east): Spain, France, Monaco, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Greece and Turkey.
• East coast (from north to south): Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel.
• South Coast (from west to east): Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt.
• Island country : Malta, Cyprus.

Several other areas also border the Mediterranean Sea (from west to east): British overseas territory of Gibraltar, Spanish autonomous cities Ceuta and Melilla and nearby islands, the Sovereign Base Area in Cyprus, and the Palestinian Gaza Strip.

Coastal cities

Major cities (municipalities) with populations of over 200,000 people bordering the Mediterranean are:

Subdivision

The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) divides the Mediterranean into smaller waterbodies, each with its own appointment (from west to east):

• Strait of Gibraltar;
• The Alboran Sea, between Spain and Morocco;
• The Balearic Sea, between the Spanish plains and the Balearic Islands;
• The Ligurian Sea between Corsica and Liguria (Italy);
• The Tyrrhenian Sea, surrounded by Sardinia, the Italian peninsula, and Sicily;
• The Ionian Sea between Italy, Albania, and Greece;
• The Adriatic Sea between Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Albania;
• Aegean Sea between Greece and Turkey.

Other sea

Some of the other oceans whose names have been commonly used since ancient times, or today:

• The Sardinian Sea, between Sardinia and the Balearic Islands, as part of the Balearic Sea
• Sicilian Sea between Sicily and Tunisia,
• Libyan Sea between Libya and Chinatown,
• In the Aegean Sea,
  • Thracian Sea to the north,
  • The Myrtoan Sea between the Cyclades and the Peloponnese,
  • Crete Sea to the north of Crete,
  • The Sea of ​​Sea between Cost and Chios
• Cilician Sea between Turkey and Cyprus
• Sea of ​​Levantine at the east end of the Mediterranean Sea
• Libyan Sea on Libya's northern bay

Many of these smaller oceans display local myths and folklore and get their names from these associations.

Other features

In addition to the sea, a number of bays and straits are recognized:

• Saint George Bay in Beirut, Lebanon
• Tanjung Ras Ibn Hani in Latakia, Syria
• Ras al-Bassit cape in northern Syria.
• Minet el-Beida Bay ("White Harbor") near ancient Ugarit, Syria
• Strait of Gibraltar, connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separating Spain from Morocco
• Gibraltar Bay, at the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula
• The bay of Corinth, the sealed sea between the Ionian Sea and the Corinthian Canal
• The Bay of Pagasetik, the bay of Volos, south of Thermaic Bay, formed by the Pelion Cement peninsula
• Saronic Bay, the bay of Athens, between the Corinth Canal and the Mirtoan Sea
• Thermaic Bay, Gulf of Thessaloniki, is located in northern Greece, Macedonia
• Kvarner Bay, Croatia
• Lion Bay, south of France
• Gulf of Valencia, east of Spain
• The Messina Strait, between Sicily and the Italian toe
• Genoa Bay, northwestern Italy
• Venetian Bay, northeastern Italy
• The Gulf of Trieste, northeastern Italy
• Taranto Bay, southern Italy
• Salerno Bay, southwestern Italy
• Gaeta Bay, southwestern Italy
• Squillace Bay, southern Italy
• The Otranto Strait, between Italy and Albania
• Gulf of Haifa, northern Israel
• Sidra Bay, between Tripolitania (western Libya) and Cyrenaica (east Libya)
• The Sicilian Strait, between Sicily and Tunisia
• Corsican Channel, between Corsica and Italy
• Strait of Bonifacio, between Sardinia and Corsica
• The Bay? skenderun, between? skenderun and Adana (Turkey)
• Antalya Bay, between the west and east coast of Antalya (Turkey)
• Bay of Kotor, southwest of Montenegro and southeastern Croatia
• the Malta Channel, between Sicily and Malta
• the Gozo Channel, between Malta Island and Gozo

10 largest islands by area

Climate

Sea temperature

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Geology

The geological history of the Mediterranean Sea is very complex. Based on the oceanic crust, the ocean basin was once thought to be the tectonic remains of the ancient Tethys Ocean; now known as the younger structural basin, called Neotethys, which was first formed by the convergence of African and Eurasian plates during Late Triassic and Early Jurassic. Since it is a water body surrounded by land in a normally dry climate, the Mediterranean is subject to intensive evaporation and evaporite precipitation. The Messinian salinity crisis began about six million years ago (mya) when the Mediterranean became landlocked, and then basically dried up. There is a pile of salt collected at the base of the basin over a million cubic kilometers - in some places over three kilometers thick.

Scientists estimate that the last sea was filled about 5.3 million years ago (mya) in less than two years by the Zanclean flood. Water poured from the Atlantic Ocean through a recently broken gate is now called the Strait of Gibraltar with an approximate level of about three orders of magnitude (one thousand times) larger than the current Amazon River.

The Mediterranean Sea has an average depth of 1,500 m (4,900 ft) and the deepest point is 5,266 m (17,280 ft) at Calypso Deep in the Ionian Sea. The coastline extends for 46,000 km (29,000 mi). A shallow submarine ridge between the island of Sicily and the coast of Tunisia divides the sea in two main subregions: the Western Mediterranean, with an area of ​​about 850 thousand km ² (330 thousand mi ² ); and the Eastern Mediterranean, about 1.65 million km ² (640 thousand, mi ² ). The characteristics of the coastal Mediterranean are karst springs beneath the sea or Croatian vrulja , which dumps pressurized ground water into coastal seawater from below the surface; waste water is usually fresh, and sometimes it can get hot.

Tectonic and paleoenvironmental analysis

Mediterranean basins and marine systems were established by the ancient Arabian continents that collided with the Eurasian continent. As Africa-Arabia drifted north, it closes the ancient Tethys Ocean that previously separated the two supercontinents of Laurasia and Gondwana. At around that time in the medieval Jurassic period, the much smaller ocean basin, dubbed Neotethys, was formed shortly before Tethys Ocean closed in the western (Arab) end. The broad line of collisions pushed the very long mountain system from the Pyrenees in Spain to the Zagros Mountains in Iran in a mountain-building tectonic episode known as the Alpine orogeny. Neotethys grew larger during episodes of collisions (and related folds and subduction) that occurred during the Oligocene and Miocene periods (34-5.33 mya); see animation: Africa-Arabia collided with Eurasia. Therefore, the Mediterranean basin consists of several tectonic plates stretching in subduction which is the basis of the northeastern part of the Mediterranean. Various subduction port zones and form the deepest and most magnificent oceanic mountains, east of the Ionian Sea and southern Aegean. The Central Indian Ridge stretches to the Northeast Mediterranean Sea between Africa and the Arabian Peninsula to the Indian Ocean. Nevertheless, while man-made geopolitical turmoil and chaos have set the shoreline of various Mediterranean countries along the course of ancient, modern, present and future history, the tectonic plate status of countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea will find shared geological concerns the same and destiny.

Messinian salinity crisis

During the Mesozoic and Kenozoic times, when the northwest corner of Africa met Iberia, he lifted the Betic-Rif mountain belt in southern Iberia and northwestern Africa. There the development of the intramontane Betik and Rif niche causes the creation of two parallel sea gates roughly parallel between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Dubbed the corridors of Betic and Rifian, they were getting closed during the Central and Late Miocene; maybe several times. During the late Miocene the closing of the Bystic Corridor triggered the so-called "Messinian salinity crisis" (MSC), when the Mediterranean was almost entirely dry. The initial time of MSC was recently estimated astronomically at 5.96 mya, and persisted for about 630,000 years to about 5.3 mya; see Animation: Messinian salinity crisis, on the right.

After the initial withdrawal and flooding back there followed more episodes - the total amount is debatable - sea withdrawal and flooding over the duration of the MSC. It ends when the last Atlantic Ocean flooded the basin - creating the Strait of Gibraltar and causing the Zanclean flood - at the end of the Miocene (5.33 mya). Several studies have suggested that the drying-drying-frying cycle may have been repeated several times, which may account for some of the events of a large number of salt deposition. However, recent research has shown that recurrent calcification and re-flooding are not possible from a geodynamic point of view.

Desiccation and exchange of flora and fauna

The current Atlantic Gate, the Strait of Gibraltar, originated from the early Pliocene through the Zanclean Flood. As mentioned, two other gates preceded Gibraltar: the Bystic Corridor in southern Spain and the Rifian Corridor in northern Morocco. The previous gate closes about six (6) mya, causing Messinian salinity crisis (MSC); the latter or maybe the two gates were closed during the previous Tortonian period, causing a "Tortonian salinity crisis" (from 11.6 to 7.2 mya), which occurred long before the MSC and lasted longer. The "crisis" both resulted in extensive connections in mainland Africa and Europe, thereby normalizing the migration of flora and fauna - especially large mammals including primates - between two continents. The Vallesian crisis shows the distinctive extinction and replacement of mammalian species in Europe during the Tortonian period following the rejuvenation of climate and ground migration of new species; see Animation: Messinian salinity crisis (and mammalian migration), on the right.

The fully enclosed configuration of the Mediterranean basin has allowed marine gates to dominate sea water circulation and the evolution of marine environments and basins. Circulation patterns are also influenced by several other factors - including climate, bathymetry, and water and temperature chemistry - which are interactive and can induce precipitation of evaporites. Evaporite deposits accumulate earlier in the front Carpathian during the Middle Miocene, and adjacent Red Sea Basin (during Late Miocene), and throughout the Mediterranean basin (during MSC and Messinian age). Diatomites are regularly found under evaporitic deposits, showing the relationship between their genes.

Today, the evaporation of surface water (output) over freshwater supply by the deposition and coastal drainage system, causes the Mediterranean salinity to be much higher than the Atlantic - so much so that it is saltier The Mediterranean waters are sinking under the incoming waters of the Atlantic , causing the flow of two layers across the strait of Gibraltar: the warm ocean water currents of the Mediterranean Sea waters, offset by the inward flow of less salty cold streams from the Atlantic. Herman SÃÆ'¶rgel's Atlantropa project proposal in the 1920s proposed a hydroelectric dam to be built across the Strait of Gibraltar, using inflows to provide large amounts of hydroelectric energy. The underlying energy network is also intended to support the political unity between Europe and, at least, the Marghreb part of Africa (compare Eurafrika for later impacts and Desertec for subsequent projects with some parallel in the planned grid).

Switch to "Mediterranean climate"

The end of the Miocene also marks a change in the Mediterranean basin climate. Fossil evidence from this period revealed that larger basins have a humid subtropical climate with summer rainfall supporting laurel forests. The shift to the "Mediterranean climate" occurs mostly in the last three million years (the final Pliocene era) when summer precipitation declines. Subtropical reverse laurel forests; and even as they survive in the Macaronian islands off the Atlantic coast of Iberia and North Africa, the now evolving Mediterranean vegetation, dominated by coniferous trees and sclerophyllous trees and shrubs with small, hard, and waxy leaves which prevents the loss of moisture in the dry summer.. Much of this forest and shrub has been altered beyond recognition by thousands of years of human abode. Now there are very few natural areas that are relatively intact in areas that were once dense forests.

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Paleoclimate

Due to its latitude position and land configuration, the Mediterranean is very sensitive to astronomical climate variations, which are well documented in its sedimentary records. Because the Mediterranean is involved in the deposition of eolian dust from the Sahara during dry periods, while river detrital inputs apply during the wet, sapropel-bearing Mediterranean sea sequences provide high-resolution climate information. This data has been used in reconstructing the astronomical calibration time scale for the Earth's 9 Ma history, helping to limit the time of geomagnetic reversal in the past. Furthermore, the remarkable accuracy of this paleoclimatic note has increased our knowledge of Earth's orbital variations in the past.

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Ecology and biota

As a result of sea draining during the Messinian salinity crisis, Mediterranean marine biota originated primarily from the Atlantic Ocean. The North Atlantic is much colder and more nutrient rich than the Mediterranean, and Mediterranean marine life must adapt to different conditions in the five million years since the hollow was flooded.

The Alboran Sea is a transition zone between two oceans, containing a mixture of Mediterranean and Atlantic species. The Alboran Sea has the largest population of bottlenose dolphins in the Western Mediterranean, is home to the last population of seaport ports in the Mediterranean, and is the most important eating place for European loggerheads. The Alboran Sea is also an important commercial fishing venue, including sardines and swordfish. The seal of Mediterranean monks lives in the Aegean Sea in Greece. In 2003, the World Wildlife Fund voiced concern about a drifting floating fishing population that crippled dolphin, sea turtle and other marine animals such as ogre cancer.

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Environmental history

For 4,000 years, human activity has changed most of Mediterranean Europe, and "landscape humanization" overlaps with the advent of the Mediterranean climate today. The image of the simplistic and simplistic understanding of the Earthly Mediterranean on Earth in ancient times, which was destroyed by future civilizations dates back to at least in the 18th century and over the fashionable centuries in archaeological and historical circles. Based on a wide variety of methods, e.g. historical documents, trade relations analysis, lowland sediments, pollen, tree rings and further archeometry analysis and population studies, Alfred Thomas Grove and Oliver Rackham's work on "The Nature of Mediterranean Europe" challenged this Mediterranean European common policy as "Lost Eden" , previously fertile and forested areas, which are increasingly degraded and abandoned by human mismanagement. Trust comes more from recent landscape failures to measure the imaginary classical past as idealized by early modern artists, poets and early Enlightenment scientists.

The historical evolution of climate, vegetation and landscape in southern Europe from prehistoric times to the present is much more complex and undergoing various changes. For example, some deforestation had occurred before the Roman era. While in Roman times large companies such as Latifundium took effective forest and agricultural care, the largest depopulation effect came with the end of the empire. Some assume that massive deforestation takes place in modern times - the pattern of subsequent usage is also very different, eg. in southern and northern Italy. Also, the climate is usually unstable and shows various ancient and modern "Ice Age", and plant cover is accommodated to various extremes and becomes resilient with regard to various patterns of human activity.

Therefore, humanization is not the cause of climate change but is following it. The vast ecological diversity typical of Mediterranean Europe is largely based on human behavior, as it is and has been closely linked to the pattern of human usage. The range of diversity is enhanced by extensive exchange and interaction between very long and varied local farms, intensive transport and trade links, and interactions with settlements, pastures and other land uses. The greatest human-induced change, however, came after World War II, each in line with the '1950s-syndrome' as rural populations across the region abandoned traditional subsistence economies. Grove and Rackham show that local residents abandon traditional farming patterns to take on the role of landscape setting agents for much more important tourist (tourism). This results in a more monotonous and large-scale formation. Among the current important threats to the Mediterranean landscape are excessive coastal development, mountain abandonment and, as mentioned, the loss of diversity through the reduction of traditional agricultural work.

Natural hazards

This area has various geological hazards that interact closely with human activity and land use patterns. Among others, in the eastern Mediterranean, the Thera eruption, dated to the 17th or 16th centuries BC, caused a massive tsunami which some hypothesized experts destroyed the Minoan civilization on the nearby island of Crete, further causing some to believe that this might have happened. a catastrophe that inspired the legend of Atlantis. Mount Vesuvius is the only active volcano in mainland Europe, while others such as Mount Etna and Stromboli can be found on neighboring islands. The area around Vesuvius including Kalsi Phlegraean Caldera west of Naples is quite active and is the most densely populated volcanic region in the world and eruption events can occur within decades.

Vesuvius himself is considered very dangerous because of the tendency of explosive eruption (Plinian). He is famous for his eruption in AD 79 which led to the burial and destruction of the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

The great experience of member states and regional authorities has led to international exchange with the cooperation of NGOs, states, regional authorities and municipalities and private individuals. The diplomacy of the Greece-Turkey earthquake is a fairly positive example of a natural hazard that leads to the improvement of traditional rival relations in the region after the earthquake in? Zmir and Athena 1999. The EU Solidarity Fund (EUSF) was formed to respond to major natural disasters. and expressed European solidarity to disaster-stricken regions across Europe. The largest amount of money demand in the EU is directed to forest fires, followed by floods and earthquakes. Wildfires, whether man-made or natural, are a frequent and recurring danger in the Mediterranean region. Also, tsunamis are a danger that is often underestimated in this area. For example, the Messina earthquake and tsunami of 1908 took over 123,000 lives in Sicily and Calabria and is one of the most deadly natural disasters in modern Europe.

Biodiversity

Unlike the vast multidirectional Ocean currents in the open Oceans within each Oceanic zone; Biodiversity in the Mediterranean is stable due to its strong but enclosed nature, which affects both, even the smallest macroscopic forms of the Volcanic Life Form. Stable marine ecosystems of the Mediterranean Sea and ocean temperatures provide a nurturing environment for deepwater life to thrive while ensuring balanced aquatic ecosystems are excluded from external deepwater factors.

Invasive Species

The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 created the first brine course between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. The Red Sea is higher than the Eastern Mediterranean, so the canal serves as a tidal strait pouring Red Sea water into the Mediterranean Sea. Lake Bitter, which is a natural lake of hyper saline that forms part of the canal, blocked the migration of Red Sea species into the Mediterranean for decades, but because the salinity of the lake gradually equated with the Red Sea, the migratory barrier was removed, and plants and animals from the Red Sea began to colonize the Eastern Mediterranean. The Red Sea is generally more salty and poorer in nutrients than the Atlantic, so the Red Sea species have advantages over Atlantic species in the salty and nutrient-rich Eastern Mediterranean. Thus, Red Sea species attack Mediterranean biota, and not vice versa; This phenomenon is known as Lessepsian migration (after Ferdinand de Lesseps, French engineer) or Erythrean invasion. The construction of the Aswan Dam on the Nile in the 1960s reduced the influx of freshwater and nutrient-rich sludge from the Nile to the Eastern Mediterranean, making the condition there even more like the Red Sea and exacerbating the impact of invasive species.

Invasive species have become a major component of the Mediterranean ecosystem and have a serious impact on Mediterranean ecology, endangering many local and endemic Mediterranean species. The first view on some groups of exotic species shows that more than 70% of non-indigenous decapods and about 63% of exotic fish occurring in the Mediterranean are from the Indo Pacific, introduced to the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal. This makes Canal the first path of the arrival of "foreign" species to the Mediterranean. The impact of some lessepsian species has been proven especially in the Mediterranean Levantine basin, where they replaced the native species and became a "common sight".

According to the definition of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, as well as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the terminology of the Ramsar Convention, they are alien species, as they are not native to the Mediterranean Sea, and those outside their normal area of ​​distribution Indo-Pacific. When these species successfully build populations in the Mediterranean Sea, competing with and beginning to replace their native species are "Alien Invasive Species", as they are agents of change and threat to native biodiversity. In the context of the CBD, "introduction" refers to movement by human, indirect or direct agents, from alien species beyond its natural (past or present) extent. The Suez Canal, which is an artificial channel (man-made), is a human agency. Lessepsian migrants are "introduced" (indirect, and unintentional) species. Whatever the selected words, they represent a threat to the native Mediterranean biodiversity, as they are non-indigenous to this sea. In recent years, the Egyptian government's announcement of its intention to deepen and expand the canals has raised concerns from marine biologists, fearing that such actions would only exacerbate the invasion of Red Sea species into the Mediterranean, facilitating channel crossings for yet additional species.

The arrival of a new tropical Atlantic species

In recent decades, the arrival of exotic species from the tropical Atlantic has become a real feature. Does this reflect the extension of the natural area of ​​this species that now enters the Mediterranean through the Strait of Gibraltar, due to the warming tendency of water caused by global warming; or extension of maritime traffic; or just the result of a more intense scientific investigation, is still an open question. Although not as serious as the "lessepsian" movement, the process may be scientific and may therefore encourage increased levels of monitoring.

Sea level rise

By 2100, the overall level of the Mediterranean can rise between 3 to 61 cm (1.2 to 24.0 inches) as a result of the effects of climate change. This could have an adverse effect on populations across the Mediterranean:

• Rising sea levels will drown the parts of Malta. Rising sea levels would also mean rising levels of salt water in Malta's groundwater supply and reducing the availability of drinking water.
• A sea level rise of 30 cm (12 inches) will overwhelm 200 square kilometers (77 m²) of the Nile Delta, replacing more than 500,000 Egyptians.

Coastal ecosystems also appear to be threatened by rising sea levels, especially closed seas such as the Baltic, Mediterranean and Black Seas. This sea has only small and east-west movement corridors, which can limit the movement of organisms to the north in this region. Sea level rise for the next century (2100) can be between 30 cm (12 inches) and 100 cm (39 degrees) and the temperature change is only 0.05-0.1 ° C in deep ocean enough to induce significant changes in species richness and functional diversity.

Pollution

The pollution in this region is very high in recent years. The United Nations Environment Program has estimated 650,000,000 t (720,000,000 tons) of waste, 129,000 tons (142,000 tons) of mineral oil, 60,000 tons (66,000 tons) of mercury, 3,800 tons (4,200 short tons) of lead and 36,000 tons (40,000 tons ) phosphate is thrown into the Mediterranean every year. The Barcelona Convention aims to 'reduce pollution in the Mediterranean Sea and protect and improve the marine environment in the area, thus contributing to sustainable development'. Many marine species have been virtually destroyed by marine pollution. One of them is the seal of a Mediterranean monk that is considered one of the most endangered marine mammals in the world.

The Mediterranean is also beset by marine debris. A 1994 study of seabed using trawl nets around the coast of Spain, France and Italy reported very high average debris concentrations; an average of 1,935 items per km ² . Plastic waste accounts for 76%, of which 94% are plastic bags.

Shipping

Some of the world's busiest shipping routes are in the Mediterranean Sea. An estimated 220,000 merchant ships with more than 100 tons cross the Mediterranean every year - about a third of the world's total merchant shipments. These ships often carry dangerous cargoes, which if lost will result in severe damage to the marine environment.

Disposal of chemical tank leaching and oily waste is also a significant source of marine pollution. The Mediterranean Sea represents 0.7% of the global water surface and has not received 17% of global sea oil pollution. It is estimated every year between 100,000 tons (98,000 tons of length) and 150,000 tons (150,000 tons) of crude oil deliberately released into the sea from shipping activities.

Around 370,000,000 tonnes (360,000,000 tons of oil) are transported annually in the Mediterranean Sea (over 20% of the world's total), with about 250-300 oil tankers crossing the sea every day. Accidental oil spills often occur with an average of 10 spills per year. Major oil spills can happen anytime anywhere in the Mediterranean.

Tourism

The Mediterranean Sea is arguably among the most culturally diverse culturally diverse marine regions in the world, with a unique combination of pleasant climate, beautiful coastlines, rich history and various cultures. The Mediterranean region is the most popular tourist destination in the world - attracting about a third of the world's international tourists.

Tourism is one of the most important sources of income for many Mediterranean countries irrespective of man-made geopolitical conflicts that are ports of coastal states. In that case, authorities around the Mediterranean have made a point to quell rising manmade chaotic zones that will affect the economy, people in neighboring coastal states, let alone the cruise route. Marine and rescue components in the Mediterranean are considered to be one of the best because of the rapid interoperability of the various Navy Fleets adjacent to each other. Unlike the wide open oceans, closed seaside nature provides a more adaptable naval initiative among coastal states to provide effective naval and rescue missions, considered the safest and regardless of man-made or natural disasters.

Tourism also supports small communities in coastal and island areas by providing alternative sources of income far from the city center. However, tourism also plays a major role in the degradation of coastal and marine environments. Rapid developments have been encouraged by the Mediterranean government to support the large number of tourists who visit the region each year. But this has caused serious disruption to marine habitats such as erosion and pollution in many places along the Mediterranean coast.

Tourism is often concentrated in areas of high natural wealth, causing serious threats to the habitat of endangered Mediterranean species such as sea turtles and monk seals. The reduction of natural resources can reduce the incentive for tourists to visit.

Overfishing

The level of fish stocks in the Mediterranean is very low. The European Environment Agency says that more than 65% of all fish stocks in the region are outside the safe biological boundary and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization that some of the most important fisheries - such as albacore and bluefin tuna, hake, marlin, swordfish, red mullet and sea bream - are at risk.

There are clear indications that the size and quality of catches have declined, often dramatically, and in many areas larger and longer-lived species have disappeared entirely from commercial catches.

Large open water fish such as tuna have been a shared fishery resource for thousands of years but the stock is now very low. In 1999, Greenpeace published a report revealing that the number of bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean has declined by more than 80% in the previous 20 years and government scientists have warned that without immediate action, stocks will collapse.

Aquaculture

Aquaculture is growing rapidly - often without proper environmental assessment - and currently accounts for 30% of the protein of fish consumed worldwide. The industry claims that cultivated seafood reduces the pressure on wild fish stocks, but many of the species cultivated are carnivores, consuming up to five times their weight on wild fish.

The Mediterranean coastal region has been too exposed to human influences, with pure regions becoming increasingly scarce. The aquaculture sector adds to this pressure, requiring areas with high water quality to set up farms. Installation of fish farms close to the most vulnerable and important habitats such as seagrass meadows is very alarming.

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Gallery

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See also

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Note

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References

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External links

• Mediterranean Sea microorganisms: 180 images of Foraminifera
• Ecotourism Research Station East Sea Northeast

Source of the article : Wikipedia