BRUSSELS, Aug 19 (Reuters) – Human-caused climate change was the main driver of recent record-breaking sea temperatures around Europe, scientists said on Wednesday, warning of severe consequences \u200cfor marine ecosystems and coastal communities.<\/p>\n
Europe's seas have not escaped the extreme heat that many \u200ccountries have endured this summer. Last month, the average temperature in the Mediterranean was 27 degrees Celsius (81 degrees Fahrenheit), the \u200bhighest for any July on record, while an offshore buoy near Mallorca recorded 33 C in early August.<\/p>\n
Human-caused climate change has added about 2 C of warming to the Mediterranean and around 1.4 C to Western European seas, according to an analysis by the World Weather Attribution (WWA) group, which uses peer-reviewed methods to \u200cassess global warming's role in extreme \u2060weather events.<\/p>\n
"This has the potential to completely reshape ecosystems that coastal communities rely on for food and income, and drive damaging extreme weather on land too," \u2060said Claire Bergin, a climate scientist at Ireland's Maynooth University and a co-author of the study.<\/p>\n
The analysis found that peak sea temperatures recorded this year in the eastern and western Mediterranean and along the Bay of \u200bBiscay \u200band Iberian coast would have been "virtually impossible" without human-caused \u200bclimate change.<\/p>\n
In the Celtic Sea, off Britain \u200cand Ireland, the most extreme temperatures recorded would have been expected only about once a century in a world without human-caused climate change, it found.<\/p>\n
Hotter seas increase humidity and overnight temperatures in coastal areas and can help fuel intense storms later in the year.<\/p>\n
Greenhouse gas emissions, mainly from burning fossil fuels, have raised the planet's average temperature to around 1.4 C above pre-industrial levels, according to the \u200cWorld Meteorological Organization. This hotter baseline means the high-pressure \u200batmospheric systems that cause heatwaves can reach higher temperatures.<\/p>\n
Sea temperature \u200bspikes can cause mass die-offs of species \u200bsuch as corals and disrupt food supplies for birds and mammals, with knock-on \u200ceffects through food chains.<\/p>\n
John Bruno, a marine ecologist \u200bat the University of \u200bNorth Carolina, said some species were moving north to seek cooler waters, but not all could adapt.<\/p>\n
"We are rapidly approaching the absolute biological limits of adaptation for many species," he said.<\/p>\n
According \u200bto the WWA analysis, about \u200c90% of the Bay of Biscay and 80% of the western Mediterranean have experienced marine \u200bheatwave conditions this year. Without global warming, that figure would have been closer to \u200b40%.<\/p>\n
(Reporting by Kate Abnett. Editing by Mark Potter)<\/p>\n