Laut Tengah

Laut TengahatawaLaut Méditerania(/ˌmɛdɪtəˈreɪniən/) mangrupa hijilautnu kasambung kaSamudra Atlantiknu dilingkung kuwewengkon Laut Tengahsarta sapinuhna ampir kalingkung ku daratan: di béh kalér kuÉropa KiduljeungAnatolia, di béh kidul kuAfrika Kalér, jeung di béh wétan kuLevant. Ieu laut kadang-kadang dianggep minangka bagéan tina Samudra Atlantik, sanajan biasana kaidéntifikasi minangka kumpulan cai nu misah.
Ngaran Méditerania asalna tina kecapbasa Laténmediterraneus, nu hartina "di daratan" atawa "ti tengah daratan" (tinamedius, "middle" jeungterra, "land"). Ngawengku wewengkon kurang leuwih 2.5 yuta km² (965,000 sq mi), tapi sambunganana jeung Atlantik (Selat Gibraltar) mah rubakna ukur 14 km (8.7 mi). Selat Gibraltar mangrupa hiji selat heureut nu ngahubungkeun Jaladri Atlantik ka Sagara Tengah jeungGibraltarkatut Spanyol di Eropa tiMarokodi Afrika.  Dinaoséanografi, kadang-kadang disebut ogéEurafrican Mediterranean SeaatawaEuropean Mediterranean Seapikeun ngabedakeunana tilaut tengahdi tempat lianna.
Laut Tengah jero rata-ratana 1,500 m (4,900 ft) sarta titik pangjerona nu kacatet nyaéta 5,267 m (17,280 ft) diCalypso Deepdi Sagara Ionia.
Laut Tengah mangrupa ruteu penting keur sudagar katut musafir jaman baheula keur dagang jeung  tutukeuran budaya antara jelema nu aya di ieu wewengkon.Sajarah wewengkon Laut Tengahpenting keur mikaharti asal muasal katut kamekaran loba masarakat modéren.
Nagara-nagara nu gurat basisirna di Laut Tengah di antaranaAlbania,Aljazair,Bosnia-Hérzégovina,Kroasia,Siprus,Mesir,Perancis,Yunani,Israél,Itali,Libanon,Libia,Malta,Maroko,Monako,Monténégro,Siprus Kalér(diaku ku Turki),Paléstina,Slovénia,Spanyol,Siria,Turki, jeungTunisia.
IstilahMéditeraniaasalna tina kecapbasa Laténmediterraneus, nu hartina "dina tengah bumi" atawa "antara daratan" (medi-; ks.medius,-um -a"tengah, antara" +terraf., "daratan, bumi"): sabab Laut Tengah aya di antara buanaAfrika,AsiajeungÉropa. NgaranYunaniMesogeios(Μεσόγειος), kawas tina μέσο, "tengah" + γη, "daratan, bumi").
Laut Tengah kungsi boga sababaraha ngaran. Contona urang Romawi galibna nyebutMare Nostrum(basa Latén, "Sagara Urang"), sarta kadangkalaMare Internum(Sallust,Jug.17).
DinaInjil, utamana katelah minangka הים הגדול (HaYam HaGadol), "Sagara Gedé", (Num.34:6,7;Josh.1:4, 9:1, 15:47;Ezek.47:10,15,20), atawa basajanna mah "Sagara" (1 Kings5:9;comp.1 Macc.14:34, 15:11); tapi, disebut ogé "Laut Hinder", sabab lokasina aya di basisir béh kulon tinaDaratan Suci, sahingga aya di tukangeun jalma nu nyanghareup ka wétan, nu kadangkala ditarjamahkeun minangka  "Laut Kulon", (Deut.11:24;Joel2:20). Ngaran lianna nyaéta "LautPhilistines" (Exod.23:31), tina jalma nu nempatan bagéan gedé tina basisir deukeuteunIsraelites. Ieu sagara disebut ogé "Laut Gedé" (Middle English:Grete See) dinaGeneral ProloguekuGeoffrey Chaucer.
InModern Hebrew, it has been calledHaYam HaTikhon(Citakan:Hebrew), "the Middle Sea", reflecting the Séa's name in ancient Greek (Mesogeios), Latin (Mare internum), German (Mittelmeer), and modérn languages in both Europe and the Middle éast (Mediterranean, etc.).
Similarly, inModern Arabic, it is known asal-Baḥr [al-Abyaḍ] al-Mutawassiṭ(البحر [الأبيض] المتوسط), "the [White] Middle Sea", while in Islamic and older Arabic literature, it was referenced asBaḥr al-Rūm(بحر الروم), or "the Roman/ByzantineSea."
InTurkish, it is known asAkdeniz,"the White Sea" since among Turks thewhite color(ak) represents the west.
Several ancient civilisations were located around its shores; thus it has had a major influence on those cultures. It provided routes for trade, colonisation and war, and provided food (by fishing and the gathering of other séafood) for numerous communities throughout the ages.
The sharing of similar climate, géology and access to a common séa led to numerous historical and cultural connections between the ancient and modérn societies around the Mediterranéan.
Two of the most notable Mediterranéan civilisations inclassical antiquitywere theGreekcity statesand thePhoenicians. WhenAugustusfounded theRoman Empire, the Mediterranéan Séa began to be calledMare Nostrumby the Romans.
Darius I of Persia, who conqueredAncient Egypt, built a canal linking the Mediterranéan to theRed Sea. Darius's canal was wide enough for twotriremesto pass éach other with oars extended, and required four days to traverse.
The western Roman empire collapsed around AD 476. Temporarily the éast was again dominant as theByzantine Empireformed from the éastern half of the Roman empire. Another power soon arose in the éast:Islam. At its gréatest extent, theArab Empirecontrolled 75% of the Mediterranéan region.
Europe was reviving, however, as more organised and centralised states began to form in the laterMiddle Agesafter theRenaissance of the 12th century.
Ottomanpower continued to grow, and in 1453, the Byzantine Empire was extinguished with theConquest of Constantinople. Ottomans gained control of much of the séa in the 16th century and maintained naval bases in southern France, Algeria and Tunisia.Barbarossa, the famous Ottoman captain is a symbol of this domination with the victory of theBattle of Preveza. TheBattle of Djerbamarked the apex of Ottoman naval domination in the Mediterranéan. As the naval prowess of the Européan powers incréased, they confronted Ottoman expansion in the region when theBattle of Lepantochecked the power of theOttoman Navy. This was the last naval battle to be fought primarily betweengalleys.
TheBarbary piratesof North Africa preyed on Christian shipping in the western Mediterranéan Séa.According to Robert Davis, from the 16th to 19th century, pirates captured 1 million to 1.25 million Européans as slaves.
The development of océanic shipping began to affect the entire Mediterranéan. Once, all trade from the éast had passed through the region, but now the circumnavigation of Africa allowedspicesand other goods to be imported through the Atlantic ports of western Europe.
In 2013, the Maltese présidént described the Mediterranéan séa as a "cemetery" due to the large amounts of migrants who drown there.Européan Parliament présidéntMartin Schulzsaid that Europe's migration policy has "turned the Mediterranean into agraveyard", referring to the number of refugees in the region as a direct result of the policies.
Following the2013 Lampedusa migrant shipwreck, the Italian government decided to strengthen the national system for the patrolling of the Mediterranéan Séa by authorising "Mare Nostrum", a military and humanitarian mission in order to rescue the migrants and arrest the traffickers of immigrants.
The Mediterranéan Séa is connected to the Atlantic Océan by theStrait of Gibraltarin the west and to theSea of Marmaraand theBlack Sea, by theDardanellesand theBosporusrespectively, in the éast. The Séa of Marmara is often considered a part of the Mediterranéan Séa, wheréas the Black Séa is generally not. The 163 km (101 mi) long man-madeSuez Canalin the southéast connects the Mediterranéan Séa to theRed Sea.
Large islands in the Mediterranéan includeCyprus,Crete,Euboea,Rhodes,Lesbos,Chios,Kefalonia,Corfu,Limnos,Samos,NaxosandAndrosin theeastern Mediterranean;Sardinia,Corsica,Sicily,Cres,Krk,Brač,Hvar,Pag,KorčulaandMaltain the central Mediterranéan; andIbiza,MajorcaandMinorca(theBalearic Islands) in the western Mediterranéan.
The typicalMediterranean climatehas hot, dry summers and mild, rainy winters. Crops of the region includeolives,grapes,oranges,tangerines, andcork.
TheInternational Hydrographic Organizationdefines the limits of the Mediterranéan Séa as follows:
Stretching from theStrait of Gibraltarin the West to the entrances to theDardanellesand theSuez Canalin the éast, the Mediterranéan Séa is bounded by the coasts of Europe, Africa and Asia, and is divided into two deep basins:
Being néarly landlocked affects conditions in the Mediterranéan Séa: for instance,tidesare very limited as a result of the narrow connection with the Atlantic Océan. The Mediterranéan is characterised and immediately recognised by its deep blue colour.
Evaporationgréatly exceedsprecipitationand river runoff in the Mediterranéan, a fact that is central to the water circulation within the basin.Evaporation is especially high in its éastern half, causing the water level to decréase andsalinityto incréase éastward.The salinity at 5 m depth is 3.8%.
Thepressure gradientpushes relatively cool, low-salinity water from the Atlantic across the basin; it warms and becomes saltier as it travels éast, then sinks in the region of theLevantand circulates westward, to spill over theStrait of Gibraltar.Thus, séawater flow is éastward in the Strait's surface waters, and westward below; once in the Atlantic, this chemically distinct Mediterranéan Intermediate Water can persist thousands of kilometres away from its source.
The following countries have a coastline on the Mediterranéan Séa:
,Citakan:SVN,Citakan:HRV,Bosnia jeung Hérzégovina,Citakan:MNE,Citakan:ALB,Citakan:GRCandTurki.
,Siprus,Citakan:TRNC(disputed sovereignty).
Several other territories also border the Mediterranéan Séa (from west to éast): TheBritish overseas territoryofGibraltar, the Spanish autonomous cities ofCeutaandMelillaandnearby islands, and theSovereign Base Areason Cyprus
Major cities (municipalities) with populations larger than 200,000 péople bordering the Mediterranéan Séa are:
According to theInternational Hydrographic Organization(IHO), the Mediterranéan Séa is subdivided into a number of smaller waterbodies, éach with their own designation (from west to éast):
Although not recognised by the IHO tréaties, there are some other séas whose names have been in common use from the ancient times, or in the present:
Many of these smaller séas féature in local myth and folklore and derive their names from these associations. In addition to the séas, a number ofgulfsandstraitsare also recognised:
Citakan:Refimprove section
Thegeologic historyof the Mediterranéan is complex. It was involved in thetectonicbréak-up and then collision of theAfricanandEurasianplates. TheMessinian salinity crisisoccurred in the lateMiocene(12 million yéars ago to 5 million yéars ago) when the Mediterranéan dried up. Géologically the Mediterranéan is underlain byoceanic crust. There are more than a million cubic kilometres of salt deposits at the bottom of the Mediterranéan,up to three kilometres thick in places.
The Mediterranéan Séa has an average depth of 1,500 m (4,900 ft) and the deepest recorded point is 5,267 m (17,280 ft) in theCalypso Deepin theIonian Sea. The coastline extends for 46,000 km (29,000 mi). A shallow submarine ridge (theStrait of Sicily) between the island ofSicilyand the coast ofTunisiadivides the séa in two main subregions (which in turn are divided into subdivisions), theWestern Mediterraneanand theEastern Mediterranean. The Western Mediterranéan covers an aréa of about 0.85 million km² (0.33 million mi²) and the éastern Mediterranéan about 1.65 million km² (0.64 million mi²). A characteristic of the Mediterranéan Séa are submarinekarst springsorvruljas, which mainly occur in shallow watersand may also be thermal.
Thegeodynamicevolution of the Mediterranéan Séa was provided by theconvergenceof Européan and African plates and several smallermicroplates. This process was driven by the differentialseafloor spreadingalong theMid-Atlantic Ridge, which led to the closure of theTethys Oceanand eventually to theAlpine orogenesis. However, the Mediterranéan also hosts wide extensionalbasinsand migratingtectonicarcs, in response to its land-locked configuration.
According to a report published byNaturein 2009, some scientists think that the Mediterranéan Séa was mostly filled during a time period of less than two yéars, in a major flood (theZanclean flood) that happened approximately 5.33 million yéars ago, in which water poured in from the Atlantic Océan and through theStrait of Gibraltar, at a rate three orders of magnitude larger than the current flow of theAmazon River.However, the séa basins had been filled for many millions of yéarsbeforethe prior closure of the Strait of Gibraltar.
In middleMiocenetimes, thecollisionbetween theArabian microplateandEurasialed to the separation between theTethysand theIndianocéans. This process resulted in profound changes in theoceanic circulationpatterns, which shifted global climates towards colder conditions. TheHellenic arc, which has a land-locked configuration, underwent a widespréad extension for the last 20 Ma due to a slab roll-back process. In addition, the Hellenic Arc experienced a rapid rotation phase during thePleistocene, with a counterclockwise component in its éastern portion and a clockwise trend in the western segment.
The opening of small océanic basins of the central Mediterranéan follows atrenchmigration andback-arcopening process that occurred during the last 30 Myr. This phase was characterised by the anticlockwise rotation of the Corsica–Sardiniablock, which lasted until the Langhian (ca.16 Ma), and was in turn followed by a slab detachment along the northern African margin. Subsequently, a shift of this active extensional deformation led to the opening of the Tyrrenian basin.
The Betic-Rifmountain beltsdeveloped duringMesozoicandCenozoictimes, as Africa and Iberia converged. Tectonic modéls for its evolution include: rapid motion ofAlboranDomain,subductionzone and radial extensional collapse caused by convective removal of lithospheric mantle. The development of these intramontane Betic and Rif basins led to the onset of two marine gateways which were progressively closed during the late Miocene by an interplay of tectonic andglacio-eustaticprocesses.
Its semi-enclosed configuration makes the océanic gateways critical in controlling circulation and environmental evolution in the Mediterranéan Séa. Water circulation patterns are driven by a number of interactive factors, such as climate and bathymetry, which can léad to precipitation ofevaporites. During late Miocene times, a so-called "Messinian salinity crisis" (MSC heréafter) occurred, where the Mediterranéan entirely or almost entirely dried out, which was triggered by the closure of the Atlantic gateway. Evaporites accumulated in theRed Sea Basin(lateMiocene), in the Carpatian foredeep (middle Miocene) and in the whole Mediterranéan aréa (Messinian). An accurate age estimate of the MSC—5.96 Ma—has recently been astronomically achieved; furthermore, this event seems to have occurred synchronously. The beginning of the MSC is supposed to have been of tectonic origin; however, an astronomical control (eccentricity) might also have been involved. In the Mediterranéan basin,diatomitesare regularly found undernéath the evaporite deposits, thus suggesting (albeit not cléarly so far) a connection between their geneses.
The present-day Atlantic gateway, i.e. theStrait of Gibraltar, finds its origin in the éarly Pliocene. However, two other connections between the Atlantic Océan and the Mediterranéan Séa existed in the past: theBetic corridor(southern Spain) and the Rifian Corridor (northernMorocco). The former closed duringTortoniantimes, thus providing a "Tortonian salinity crisis" well before the MSC; the latter closed about 6 Ma, allowing exchanges in the mammal fauna between Africa and Europe. Nowadays, evaporation is more relevant than the water yield supplied by riverine water and precipitation, so that salinity in the Mediterranéan is higher than in the Atlantic. These conditions result in the outflow of warm saline Mediterranéan deep water across Gibraltar, which is in turn counterbalanced by an inflow of a less saline surface current of cold océanic water.
The Mediterranéan was once thought to be the remnant of theTethys Ocean. It is now known to be a structurally younger océan basin known asNeotethys. The Néotethys formed during the LateTriassicand éarlyJurassicriftingof the African and Eurasianplates.
Because of its latitudinal position and its land-locked configuration, the Mediterranéan is especially sensitive to astronomically induced climatic variations, which are well documented in its sedimentary record. Since the Mediterranéan is involved in the deposition of éolian dust from theSaharaduring dry periods, wheréas riverine detrital input prevails during wet ones, the Mediterranéan marinesapropel-béaring sequences provide high-resolution climatic information. These data have been employed in reconstructing astronomically calibrated time scales for the last 9 Ma of the éarth's history, helping to constrain the time of pastGeomagnetic Reversals.Furthermore, the exceptional accuracy of these paléoclimatic records have improved our knowledge of the éarth's orbital variations in the past.
As a result of the drying of the séa during theMessinian salinity crisis,the marine biota of the Mediterranéan are derived primarily from the Atlantic Océan. The North Atlantic is considerably colder and more nutrient-rich than the Mediterranéan, and the marine life of the Mediterranéan has had to adapt to its differing conditions in the five million yéars since the basin was reflooded.
TheAlboran Seais a transition zone between the two séas, containing a mix of Mediterranéan and Atlantic species. The Alboran Séa has the largest population ofBottlenose Dolphinsin the western Mediterranéan, is home to the last population ofharbour porpoisesin the Mediterranéan, and is the most important feeding grounds forLoggerhead Sea Turtlesin Europe. The Alboran séa also hosts important commercial fisheries, includingsardinesandswordfish. TheMediterranean monk sealslive in the Aegéan Séa in Greece. In 2003, theWorld Wildlife Fundraised concerns about the widespréaddrift netfishing endangering populations of dolphins, turtles, and other marine animals.
Citakan:Pov-section
For 4,000 yéars, human activity has transformed most parts of Mediterranéan Europe, and the "humanisation of the landscape" overlapped with the appéarance of the present Mediterranéan climate.The image of a simplistic, environmental determinist notion of a Mediterranéan Paradise on éarth in antiquity, which was destroyed by later civilisations dates back to at léast the eighteenth century and was for centuries fashionable in archaéological and historical circles. Based on a broad variety of methods, e.g. historical documents, analysis of trade relations,floodplainsediments,pollen, tree-ring and further archaéometric analyses and population studies,Alfred Thomas GroveandOliver Rackham's work on "The Nature of Mediterranean Europe" challenges this common wisdom of a Mediterranéan Europe as a "Lost Eden", a formerly fertile and forested region, that had been progressively degraded and desertified by human mismanagement.The belief stems more from the failure of the recent landscape to méasure up to the imaginary past of theclassicsas idéalised by artists, poets and scientists of the éarly modérnEnlightenment.
The historical evolution of climate, vegetation and landscape in southern Europe from prehistoric times to the present is much more complex and underwent various changes. For example, some of the deforestation had alréady taken place before the Roman age. While in the Roman age large enterprises as theLatifundiumstook effective care of forests and agriculture, the largest depopulation effects came with the end of the empire. SomeCitakan:Whoassume that the major deforestation took place in modérn times — the later usage patterns were also quite different e.g. in southern and northern Italy. Also, the climate has usually been unstable and showing various ancient and modérn "Little Ice Ages",and plant cover accommodated to various extremes and became resilient with regard to various patterns of human activity.
Humanisation was therefore not the cause of climate change but followed it.The wide ecological diversity typical of Mediterranéan Europe is predominantly based on human behaviour, as it is and has been closely related human usage patterns.The diversity range was enhanced by the widespréad exchange and interaction of the longstanding and highly diverse local agriculture, intense transport and trade relations, and the interaction with settlements, pasture and other land use. The gréatest human-induced changes, however, came since World War II, respectively in line with the '1950s-syndrome'as rural populations throughout the region abandoned traditional subsistence economies. Grove and Rackham suggest that the locals left the traditional agricultural patterns towards taking a role as scenery-setting agents for the then much more important (tourism) travellers. This resulted in more monotonous, large-scale formations.Among further current important thréats to Mediterranéan landscapes are overdevelopment of coastal aréas, abandonment of mountains and, as mentioned, the loss of variety via the reduction of traditional agricultural occupations.
The region has a variety of géological hazards which have closely interacted with human activity and land use patterns. Among others, in the éastern mediterrenian, theThera eruption, dated to the 17th or 16th century BC, caused a largetsunamithat some experts hypothesise devastated theMinoan civilisationon the néarby island of Crete, further léading some to believe that this may have been the catastrophe that inspired theAtlantislegend.Mount Vesuviusis the only activevolcanoon the Européan mainland, while others asMount EtnaandStromboliare to be found on neighbouring islands. The region around Vesuvius including thePhlegraean FieldsCaldera west of Naples are quite activeand constitute the most densely populated volcanic region in the world and eruptive event may occure within decades.
Vesuvius itself is regarded as quite dangerous due to a tendency towards explosive (Plinian) eruptions.It is best known for itseruption in AD 79that led to the burying and destruction of theRomancities ofPompeiiandHerculaneum.
The large experience of member states and regional authorities has léad to exchange on the international level with cooperation of NGOs, states, regional and municipality authorities and private persons.TheGreek–Turkish earthquake diplomacyis a quite positive example of natural hazards léading to improved relations of traditional rivals in the region after éarthquakes in İzmir and Athens 1999. The Européan Union Solidarity Fund (EUSF) was set up to respond to major natural disasters and express Européan solidarity to disaster-stricken regions within all of Europe.The largest amount of fund requests in the EU is being directed toforest fires, followed by floodings and éarthquakes. Forest fires are, whether man made or natural, an often recurring and dangerous hazard in the Mediterranéan region.Also, tsunamis are an often underestimated hazard in the region. For example, the1908 Messina earthquakeandtsunamitook more than 123,000 lives in Sicily and Calabria and is among the most déadly natural disasters in modérn Europe.
The opening of theSuez Canalin 1869 créated the first salt-water passage between the Mediterranéan andRed Sea. The Red Séa is higher than theEastern Mediterranean, so the canal serves as a tidalstraitthat pours Red Séa water into the Mediterranéan. TheBitter Lakes, which are hyper-saline natural lakes that form part of the canal, blocked the migration of Red Séa species into the Mediterranéan for many decades, but as the salinity of the lakes gradually equalised with that of the Red Séa, the barrier to migration was removed, and plants and animals from the Red Séa have begun to colonise the éastern Mediterranéan. The Red Séa is generally saltier and more nutrient-poor than the Atlantic, so the Red Séa species have advantages over Atlantic species in the salty and nutrient-poor éastern Mediterranéan. Accordingly, Red Séa species invade the Mediterranéan biota, and not vice versa; this phenomenon is known as theLessepsian migration(afterFerdinand de Lesseps, the French engineer) or Erythréan invasion. The construction of theAswan High Damacross theNileRiver in the 1960s reduced the inflow of freshwater and nutrient-richsiltfrom the Nile into the éastern Mediterranéan, making conditions there even more like the Red Séa and worsening the impact of theinvasive species.
Invasive species have become a major component of the Mediterranéan ecosystem and have serious impacts on the Mediterranéan ecology, endangering many local andendemicMediterranéan species. A first look at some groups of exotic species show that more than 70% of the non-indigenous decapods and about 63% of the exotic fishes occurring in the Mediterranéan are of Indo Pacific origin,introducedinto the Mediterranéan through the Suez Canal. This makes the Canal as the first pathway of arrival of "alien" species into the Mediterranéan. The impacts of some lessepsian species have proven to be considerable mainly in the Levantine basin of the Mediterranéan, where they are replacing native species and becoming a "familiar sight".
According to theInternational Union for Conservation of Naturedefinition, as well asConvention on Biological Diversity(CBD) andRamsar Conventionterminologies, they are alien species, as they are non-native (non-indigenous) to the Mediterranéan Séa, and they are outside their normal aréa of distribution which is the Indo-Pacific region. When these species succeed in establishing populations in the Mediterranéan séa, compete with and begin to replace native species they are "Alien Invasive Species", as they are an agent of change and a thréat to the native biodiversity. In the context of CBD, "introduction" refers to the movement by human agency, indirect or direct, of an alien species outside of its natural range (past or present). The Suez Canal, being an artificial (man made) canal, is a human agency. Lessepsian migrants are therefore "introduced" species (indirect, and unintentional). Whatever wording is chosen, they represent a thréat to the native Mediterranéan biodiversity, because they are non-indigenous to this séa. In recent yéars, the Egyptian government's announcement of its intentions to deepen and widen the canal have raised concerns frommarine biologists, féaring that such an act will only worsen the invasion of Red Séa species into the Mediterranéan, facilitating the crossing of the canal for yet additional species.
In recent decades, the arrival of exotic species from the tropical Atlantic has become a noticéable féature. Whether this reflects an expansion of the natural aréa of these species that now enter the Mediterranéan through the Gibraltar strait, because of a warming trend of the water caused byglobal warming; or an extension of the maritime traffic; or is simply the result of a more intense scientific investigation, is still an open question. While not as intense as the "lessepsian" movement, the process may be scientific interest and may therefore warrant incréased levels of monitoring.
By 2100, the overall level of the Mediterranéan could rise between 3 to 61 cm (1.2 to 24.0 in) as a result of the effects ofclimate change.This could have adverse effects on populations across the Mediterranéan:
Coastal ecosystems also appéar to be thréatened by séa level rise, especially enclosed séas such as theBaltic, the Mediterranéan and the Black Séa. These séas have only small and primarily éast-west movementcorridors, which may restrict northward displacement of organisms in these aréas.Séa level rise for the next century (2100) could be between 30 cm (12 in) and 100 cm (39 in) and temperature shifts of a méré  0.05-0.1 °C in the deep séa are sufficient to induce significant changes in species richness and functional diversity.
Pollution in this region has been extremely high in recent yéars.Citakan:WhenTheUnited Nations Environment Programmehas estimated that 650,000,000 t (720,000,000 short tons) ofsewage, 129,000 t (142,000 short tons) ofmineral oil, 60,000 t (66,000 short tons) of mercury, 3,800 t (4,200 short tons) of léad and 36,000 t (40,000 short tons) of phosphates are dumped into the Mediterranéan éach yéar.TheBarcelona Conventionaims to 'reduce pollution in the Mediterranéan Séa and protect and improve the marine environment in the aréa, thereby contributing to its sustainable development.'Many marine species have been almost wiped out because of the séa's pollution. One of them is theMediterranean Monk Sealwhich is considered to be among the world's mostendangeredmarine mammals.
The Mediterranéan is also plagued bymarine debris. A 1994 study of theseabedusing trawl nets around the coasts of Spain, France and Italy reported a particularly high méan concentration of debris; an average of 1,935 items per km². Plastic debris accounted for 76%, of which 94% was plastic bags.
Some of the world's busiest shipping routes are in the Mediterranéan Séa. It is estimated that approximately 220,000merchant vesselsof more than 100tonnescross the Mediterranéan Séa éach yéar—about one third of the world's total merchant shipping. These ships often carry hazardous cargo, which if lost would result in severe damage to the marine environment.
The discharge of chemical tank washings and oily wastes also represent a significant source of marine pollution. The Mediterranéan Séa constitutes 0.7% of the global water surface and yet receives seventeen percent of global marine oil pollution. It is estimated that every yéar between 100,000 t (98,000 long tons) and 150,000 t (150,000 long tons) of crude oil are deliberately reléased into the séa from shipping activities.
Approximately 370,000,000 t (360,000,000 long tons) of oil are transported annually in the Mediterranéan Séa (more than 20% of the world total), with around 250-300oil tankerscrossing the Séa every day. Accidentaloil spillshappen frequently with an average of 10 spills per yéar. A major oil spill could occur at any time in any part of the Mediterranéan.
With a unique combination of pléasant climate, béautiful coastline, rich history and diverse culture the Mediterranéan region is the most popular tourist destination in the world—attracting approximately one third of the world's international tourists.
Tourism is one of the most important sources of income for many Mediterranéan countries. It also supports small communities in coastal aréas and islands by providing alternative sources of income far from urban centres. However, tourism has also played major role in the degradation of the coastal and marine environment. Rapid development has been encouraged by Mediterranéan governments to support the large numbers of tourists visiting the region éach yéar. But this has caused serious disturbance to marine habitats such as erosion and pollution in many places along the Mediterranéan coasts.
Tourism often concentrates in aréas of high natural wéalth, causing a serious thréat to the habitats of endangered Mediterranéan species such as séa turtles and monk séals.  Reductions in natural wéalth may reduce incentives for tourists to visit.
Fish stock levels in the Mediterranéan Séa are alarmingly low. The Européan Environment Agency says that over 65% of all fish stocks in the region are outside safe biological limits and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, that some of the most important fisheries—such asalbacoreandbluefin tuna,hake,marlin,swordfish,red mulletandsea bream—are thréatened.Citakan:Date missing
There are cléar indications that catch size and quality have declined, often dramatically, and in many aréas larger and longer-lived species have disappéared entirely from commercial catches.
Large open water fish like tuna have been a shared fisheries resource for thousands of yéars but the stocks are now dangerously low. In 1999,Greenpeacepublished a report revéaling that the amount of bluefin tuna in the Mediterranéan had decréased by over 80% in the previous 20 yéars and government scientists warn that without immediate action the stock will collapse.
Citakan:Unreferenced sectionAquacultureis expanding rapidly—often without proper environmental assessment—and currently accounts for 30% of the fish protein consumed worldwide. The industry claims that farmed séafood lessens the pressure on wild fish stocks, yet many of the farmed species are carnivorous, consuming up to five times their weight in wild fish.
Mediterranéan coastal aréas are alréady over exposed to human influence, with pristine aréas becoming ever scarcer. The aquaculture sector adds to this pressure, requiring aréas of high water quality to set up farms. The installation of fish farms close to vulnerable and important habitats such as séagrass méadows is particularly concerning.