The Mediterranean offers early warning for larger oceans

Researchers analyzing measurements from 1950 to 2025 found the Mediterranean warming and growing saltier at an accelerating pace, with changes detectable down to 3,000 or 4,000 meters. In the Adriatic Sea, deep water has warmed roughly six times faster than the Mediterranean average since 2000, even as surface warming across the basin runs two to three times the global ocean rate.

The study's authors, based at the Ruđer Bošković Institute, say the Mediterranean's faster internal circulation makes it a useful preview of how larger oceans might respond to continued warming. They plan next to examine whether current climate models are capturing the speed of what they observed.

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