As sea surface temperatures continue to increase worldwide due to climate change, including the seas surrounding Türkiye, the effects, and rate of warming are alarming, a marine sciences expert noted recently.
Barış Salihoğlu, the head of the Institute of Marine Sciences at Middle East Technical University in Ankara (METU), said over the past 60 years, sea surface temperatures parallel the approximately 1.1 degrees Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit) warming in the atmosphere.
METU's Marine Science Institute has been regularly measuring the temperature values in the seas surrounding Türkiye since 1984.
Warming on the Turkish coasts has exceeded 2 degrees Celsius in contrast to the worldwide average, Salihoğlu told Anadolu Agency (AA).
“We see that the seas surrounding Türkiye vary because of their unique geography.
“While sea surface temperatures have increased by 2.5 degrees Celsius in the east of the Black Sea, this figure decreases to 1.5 degrees Celsius as you progress west. The average sea surface temperature in the Black Sea is 2 degrees Celsius.”
He said the temperature increase in the Marmara Sea is close to 2 degrees Celsius and that this rise cannot be explained by climate change alone, with factors such as pollution also influencing the shift.
He further said that they observed regional changes in the temperature increases in the Mediterranean, as the temperature rise approached 2 degrees Celsius in the southern Mersin and Iskenderun Gulfs, while there was a rise of nearly 1.5 degrees in the tropical gulfs of Antalya and Fethiye, popular tourist destinations.
In the Aegean Sea, which has been less affected by the temperature rises in seawater due to its geography, the warming remains between 0.5 degrees Celsius and 1 degree Celsius, he said.
According to Salihoğlu, the warming can greatly affect the seas' ability to rejuvenate and causes a decrease in the carbon sequestration capacity.
He also noted that invasive species have benefited greatly from warming sea temperatures and have been able to encroach on new habitats. "They have completely changed the ecosystem here. Now, more than half of the fish species in Mersin Bay are invasive species," he said.
According to the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), there will be an increase of 4-7 degrees Celsius in the atmosphere by the end of the century, which means a disaster scenario for the seas, Salihoğlu warned.
