Sea currents and shear flows: case studies for sensitive marine areas

This multidisciplinary study aims to reveal the effects of global warming on marine protected species in the Mediterranean Sea. We highlight how the current warming trend is causing the lowering of the thermocline and it is causing harm to protected species. These changes have been detected from the trend analysis of temperature of the database of Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS), referring to the last ten years. The results of some numerical simulations, able to confirm the aforementioned trend, will also be presented, with particular regard to the Marine Protected Area of the Tremiti Islands, where the density of the endemic red gorgonian Paramuricea clavata has decreased by up to 47% in the last five years.