Query: By 2100 the seas will rise another 6 inches or so—a far cry from Al Gore’s alarming numbers

Relevant passages:
Mediterranean Sea <=SEP=> The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean , surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land : on the north by Southern Europe and Anatolia , on the south by North Africa , and on the east by the Levant . The sea is sometimes considered a part of the Atlantic Ocean , although it is usually identified as a separate body of water .   The name Mediterranean is derived from the Latin mediterraneus , meaning `` inland '' or `` in the middle of land '' ( from medius , `` middle '' and terra , `` land '' ) . It covers an approximate area of 2.5 million km2 ( 965,000 sq mi ) , but its connection to the Atlantic ( the Strait of Gibraltar ) is only 14 km wide . The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Gibraltar and Spain in Europe from Morocco in Africa . In oceanography , it is sometimes called the Eurafrican Mediterranean Sea or the European Mediterranean Sea to distinguish it from mediterranean seas elsewhere .   The Mediterranean Sea has an average depth of 1500 m and the deepest recorded point is 5267 m in the Calypso Deep in the Ionian Sea . The sea is bordered on the north by Europe , the east by Asia , and in the south by Africa . It is located between latitudes 30 ° and 46 ° N and longitudes 6 ° W and 36 ° E. Its west-east length , from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Gulf of Iskenderun , on the southwestern coast of Turkey , is approximately 4,000 km ( 2,500 miles ) . The sea 's average north-south length , from Croatia 's southern shore to Libya , is approximately 800 km ( 500 miles ) . The Mediterranean Sea , including the Sea of Marmara ( connected by the Dardanelles to the Aegean Sea ) , has a surface area of approximately 2,510,000 square km ( 970,000 square miles ) .   The sea was an important route for merchants and travelers of ancient times that allowed for trade and cultural exchange between emergent peoples of the region . The history of the Mediterranean region is crucial to understanding the origins and development of many modern societies .   The countries with coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea are Albania , Algeria , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Croatia , Cyprus , Egypt , France , Greece , Israel , Italy , Lebanon , Libya , Malta , Morocco , Monaco , Montenegro , Slovenia , Spain , Syria , Tunisia and Turkey . In addition , the Gaza Strip and the British Overseas Territories of Gibraltar and Akrotiri and Dhekelia have coastlines on the sea .

Sea <=SEP=> A sea is a large body of salt water that is surrounded in whole or in part by land . More broadly , `` the sea '' is the interconnected system of Earth 's salty , oceanic waters -- considered as one global ocean or as several principal oceanic divisions . The sea moderates Earth 's climate and has important roles in the water cycle , carbon cycle , and nitrogen cycle . Although the sea has been traveled and explored since prehistory , the modern scientific study of the sea -- oceanography -- dates broadly to the British Challenger expedition of the 1870s . The sea is conventionally divided into up to five large oceanic sections -- including the International Hydrographic Organization 's four named oceans ( the Atlantic , Pacific , Indian , and Arctic ) and the Southern Ocean ; smaller , second-order sections , such as the Mediterranean , are known as seas .   Owing to the present state of continental drift , the Northern Hemisphere is now fairly equally divided between land and sea ( a ratio of about 2:3 ) but the South is overwhelmingly oceanic ( 1:4.7 ) . Salinity in the open ocean is generally in a narrow band around 3.5 % by mass , although this can vary in more landlocked waters , near the mouths of large rivers , or at great depths . About 85 % of the solids in the open sea are sodium chloride . Deep-sea currents are produced by differences in salinity and temperature . Surface currents are formed by the friction of waves produced by the wind and by tides , the changes in local sea level produced by the gravity of the Moon and Sun . The direction of all of these is governed by surface and submarine land masses and by the rotation of the Earth ( the Coriolis effect ) .   Former changes in sea levels have left continental shelves , shallow areas in the sea close to land . These nutrient-rich waters teem with life , which provide humans with substantial supplies of food -- mainly fish , but also shellfish , mammals , and seaweed -- which are both harvested in the wild and farmed . The most diverse areas surround great tropical coral reefs . Whaling in the deep sea was once common but whales ' dwindling numbers prompted international conservation efforts and finally a moratorium on most commercial hunting . Oceanography has established that not all life is restricted to the sunlit surface waters : even under enormous depths and pressures , nutrients streaming from hydrothermal vents support their own unique ecosystem . Life may have started there and aquatic microbial mats are generally credited with the oxygenation of Earth 's atmosphere ; both plants and animals first evolved in the sea .   The sea is an essential aspect of human trade , travel , mineral extraction , and power generation . This has also made it essential to warfare and left major cities exposed to earthquakes and volcanoes from nearby faults ; powerful tsunami waves ; and hurricanes , typhoons , and cyclones produced in the tropics . This importance and duality has affected human culture , from early sea gods to the epic poetry of Homer to the changes induced by the Columbian Exchange , from burial at sea to Basho 's haikus to hyperrealist marine art , and inspiring music ranging from the shanties in The Complaynt of Scotland to Rimsky-Korsakov 's `` The Sea and Sinbad 's Ship '' to A-mei 's `` Listen to the Sea '' . It is the scene of leisure activities including swimming , diving , surfing , and sailing . However , population growth , industrialization , and intensive farming have all contributed to present-day marine pollution . Atmospheric carbon dioxide is being absorbed in increasing amounts , lowering its pH in a process known as ocean acidification . The shared nature of the sea has made overfishing an increasing problem .