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The greatest human-induced changes, however, came after World War II, in line with the "1950s syndrome" as rural populations throughout the region abandoned traditional subsistence economies. Even Grove considered that human activity could be the cause of climate change. Also, the climate has usually been unstable and there is evidence of various ancient and modern "Little Ice Ages",page needed and plant cover accommodated to various extremes and became resilient to various patterns of human activity. For 4,000 years, human activity has transformed most parts of Mediterranean Europe, and the "humanisation of the landscape" overlapped with the appearance of the present Mediterranean climate. The Alboran Sea is a transition zone between the two seas, containing a mix of Mediterranean and Atlantic species. The North Atlantic is considerably colder and more nutrient-rich than the Mediterranean, and the marine life of the Mediterranean has had to adapt to its differing conditions in the five million years since the basin was reflooded later.
Conservation Efforts and Challenges in the Mediterranean Sea
- These events, mainly driven by a combination of oceanic and atmospheric factors, are often triggered by high pressure systems that will reduce cloud cover and increase solar absorption by the sea surface.
- The wide ecological diversity typical of Mediterranean Europe is predominantly based on human behaviour, as it is and has been closely related to human usage patterns.
- The Vallesian crisis indicates a typical extinction and replacement of mammal species in Europe during Tortonian times following climatic upheaval and overland migrations of new species.
- There are more than 500 undersea canyons along the cliffs, which can reach heights of 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) in some locations.
Ancient cultures in Greece, Egypt and Rome and Phoenicia developed along the shores of the Mediterranean region. The Mediterranean is the world’s most important wine-growing region. Although it is very dry during the summer months, farming plays an important role in the region.
Geographical Land Use
The Arab invasions disrupted the trade relations between Western and Eastern Europe while disrupting trade routes with Eastern Asian Empires. A variety of foodstuffs, spices and crops were introduced to the western Mediterranean's Spain and Sicily during Arab rule, via the commercial networks of the Islamic world. For the next 400 years, the Roman Empire completely controlled the Mediterranean Sea and virtually all its coastal regions from Gibraltar to the Levant, giving the lake the nickname "Roman Lake". Following the Punic Wars in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, the Roman Republic defeated the Carthaginians to become the preeminent power in the Western Mediterranean region. Darius's canal was wide enough for two triremes to pass each other with oars extended and required four days to traverse. Darius I of Persia, who conquered Ancient Egypt, built a canal linking the Red Sea to the Nile, and thus the Mediterranean.
Marginal seas
Lessepsian migrants are therefore "introduced" species (indirect, and unintentional). When these species succeed in establishing populations in the Mediterranean Sea, compete with and begin to replace native species they are "Alien Invasive Species", as they are an agent of change and a threat to the native biodiversity. This makes the Canal the first pathway of arrival of alien species into the Mediterranean. Invasive species have become a major component of the Mediterranean ecosystem and have serious impacts on the Mediterranean ecology, endangering a number of local and endemic Mediterranean species.
Rich biological communities may be found in the canyons, which also serve as channels for contaminants and nutrients due to underwater currents. There are more than 500 undersea canyons along the cliffs, which can reach heights of 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) in some locations. The uncertainty of the timing and nature of sea-bottom salt formation and evidence from later seismic research and core samples has been the subject of intense scientific debate.
Venetian ships from the 9th century studio cycling armed themselves to counter the harassment by Arabs while concentrating trade of Asian goods in Venice. However, the Norsemen developed the trade from Norway to the White Sea, while also trading in luxury goods from Spain and the Mediterranean. This, however, had the indirect effect of promoting trade across the Caspian Sea.
The history of the Mediterranean region is crucial to understanding the origins and development of many modern societies; it is sometimes described as an "incubator of Western civilization". The Mediterranean Sea (/ˌmɛdɪtəˈreɪniən/ MED-ih-tə-RAY-nee-ən) is an intercontinental sea situated between Europe, Asia, and Africa.
In Hebrew, it is called HaYam HaTikhon (הַיָּם הַתִּיכוֹן), "the middle sea," a literal adaptation of the German equivalent Mittelmeer. The Mediterranean Sea has been known by a number of alternative names throughout human history. In the past few centuries, human activity has brought about irreversible changes in the ecology and geology of the Mediterranean Sea.
Geography and Climate
As we delve deeper into the Mediterranean’s geography, climate, biodiversity, human impact, and cultural significance, we uncover the intricate relationships that define this remarkable sea. The construction of the Aswan High Dam across the Nile River in the 1960s reduced the inflow of freshwater and nutrient-rich silt from the Nile into the eastern Mediterranean, making conditions there even more like the Red Sea, and worsening the impact of the invasive species. The western section has three submarine basins, the Alborán, the Algerian, and the Tyrrhenian basins (from west to east), divided from one another by submerged ridges. In oceanography, the Mediterranean Sea is sometimes called the Eurafrican Mediterranean Sea or the European Mediterranean Sea, to distinguish it from mediterranean seas elsewhere. The stable marine ecosystem of the Mediterranean Sea and sea temperature provides a nourishing environment for life in the deep sea to flourish while assuring a balanced aquatic ecosystem excluded from any external deep oceanic factors.
t century and migrations
Once, most of the trade between Western Europe and the East was passing through the region, but after the 1490s the development of a sea route to the Indian Ocean allowed the importation of Asian spices and other goods through the Atlantic ports of western Europe. The geography of earth includes many bodies of water from streams, rivers and lakes to channels, seas and oceans with … The climate is influenced by the sea, with coastal areas experiencing milder temperatures than inland regions. The presence of microplastics has become particularly alarming; studies have shown that these tiny particles are now ubiquitous in marine environments, posing risks to marine life and potentially entering the human food chain through seafood consumption. The region is also known for its marine mammals, including dolphins and the endangered monk seal (Monachus monachus). The Mediterranean Sea is home to an astonishing array of biodiversity, boasting over 17,000 marine species, many of which are endemic to the region.
The Vallesian crisis indicates a typical extinction and replacement of mammal species in Europe during Tortonian times following climatic upheaval and overland migrations of new species. The Betic closed about 6 mya, causing the Messinian salinity crisis (MSC); the Rifian or possibly both gateways closed during the earlier Tortonian times, causing a "Tortonian salinity crisis" (from 11.6 to 7.2 mya), long before the MSC and lasting much longer. Some research has suggested that a desiccation-flooding-desiccation cycle may have repeated several times, which could explain several events of large amounts of salt deposition. It ended when the Atlantic Ocean last re-flooded the basin—creating the Strait of Gibraltar and causing the Zanclean flood—at the end of the Miocene (5.33 mya). After the initial drawdownclarification needed and re-flooding, there followed more episodes—the total number is debated—of sea drawdowns and re-floodings for the duration of the MSC. The Mediterranean Sea has an average depth of 1,500 m (4,900 ft) and the deepest recorded point is 5,267 m (17,280 ft) in the Calypso Deep in the Ionian Sea.
