scholarly journals Rapid and sudden advection of warm and dry air in the Mediterranean basin

2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 3735-3762
Author(s):  
J. Mazon ◽  
D. Pino ◽  
M. Barriendos

Abstract. Rapid advection of extremely warm and dry air is studied during two events in the Mediterranean basin. On 27 August 2010 a rapid advection of extremely warm and dry air affected the northeast Iberian Peninsula during few hours. At the Barcelona city center, the temperature reached 39.3 °C, which is the maximum temperature value recorded during 230 yr of daily data series. On 23 March 2008 a similar synoptic situation was the cause of a rapid increase of temperature and drop of relative humidity recorded for few hours in Heraklion (Crete). During the morning on that day the recorded temperature reaches 34 °C for several hours in the north coastline of this island. According to the World Meteorological Organization none of these events can be classified as a heat wave, which requires at least two days of abnormally high temperatures; or as a heat burst as defined by the American Meteorological Society, where abnormal temperatures take place over a few minutes. For this reason, we suggest naming this type of event flash heat. By using data from automatic weather stations in the Barcelona and Heraklion area and WRF mesoscale numerical simulations, these events are analyzed. Additionally, the primary risks and possible impacts on several fields are presented.

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Mazon ◽  
D. Pino ◽  
M. Barriendos

Abstract. Rapid advection of extremely warm and dry air is studied during two events in the Mediterranean Basin. On 27 August 2010 a rapid advection of extremely warm and dry air affected the northeast Iberian Peninsula during a few hours. At the Barcelona city center, the temperature reached 39.3 ° C, which is the maximum temperature value recorded during 230 yr of daily data series. On 23 March 2008 a rapid increase of temperature and drop of relative humidity were recorded for a few hours in Heraklion (Crete). During the morning on that day, the recorded temperature reached 34 °C for several hours on the northern coastline of this island. According to the World Meteorological Organization none of these events can be classified as a heat wave, which requires at least two days of abnormally high temperatures; neither are they a heat burst as defined by the American Meteorological Society, where abnormal temperatures take place during a few minutes. For this reason, we suggest naming this type of event flash heat. By using data from automatic weather stations in the Barcelona and Heraklion area and WRF mesoscale numerical simulations, these events are analyzed. Additionally, the primary risks and possible impacts on several fields are presented.


PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e5260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina di Rienzo ◽  
Sara Sion ◽  
Francesca Taranto ◽  
Nunzio D’Agostino ◽  
Cinzia Montemurro ◽  
...  

Background The olive tree is a typical crop of the Mediterranean basin where it shows a wide diversity, accounting for more than 2,600 cultivars. The ability to discriminate olive cultivars and determine their genetic variability is pivotal for an optimal exploitation of olive genetic resources. Methods We investigated the genetic diversity within 128 olive accessions belonging to four countries in the Mediterranean Basin (Italy, Algeria, Syria, and Malta), with the purpose of better understanding the origin and spread of the olive genotypes across Mediterranean Basin countries. Eleven highly polymorphic simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were used and proved to be very informative, producing a total of 179 alleles. Results Cluster analysis distinguished three main groups according to their geographical origin, with the current sample of Maltese accessions included in the Italian group. Phylogenetic analysis further differentiated Italian and Maltese olive accessions, clarifying the intermediate position of Maltese accessions along the x/y-axes of principal coordinate analysis (PCoA). Model-based and neighbor clustering, PCoA, and migration analysis suggested the existence of two different gene pools (Algerian and Syrian) and that the genetic exchange occurred between the Syrian, Italian and Maltese populations. Discussion The close relationship between Syrian and Italian and Maltese olives was consistent with the historical domestication and migration of olive tree from the North Levant to eastern Mediterranean basin. This study lays the foundations for a better understanding of olive genetic diversity in the Mediterranean basin and represents a step toward an optimal conservation and exploitation of olive genetic resources.


Author(s):  
Jacques Blondel

The aim of this chapter is to provide an account of the complex history of Mediterranean faunas as they evolved from the end of the Pliocene about 1.8 million years ago until the present day. Reconstructing this history is difficult because the Mediterranean basin is one of the most complex regions in the world and is characterized by significant geographical and topographical variation. The Mediterranean basin was formed during the Tertiary by the convergence of the African and Eurasian tectonic plates, in combination with several African microplates, Iberia, and two main African promontories: Apulia in the west and Arabia in the east (Chapter 1 and Dercourt et al. 1986). Where the African and Eurasian plates meet, seismic and volcanic activity have combined with other processes to form a very heterogeneous region. High mountains and deeply dissected topography form the main part of a coastline some 46,000 km in length, 18,000 of which are island shores (Chapter 13). A dominant feature of the region, which has had many consequences for species diversity and the process of differentiation, is the striking contrast between the northern half of the basin with its many large peninsulas—Iberian, Apennine, Balkan, and Anatolian—and the southern half with its more or less rectilinear shorelines. In addition, there is a marked biogeographical contrast between the western and the eastern halves of the Mediterranean, the former having shifted somewhat to the north with respect to the latter. The line separating the two north–south ranges in each half of the basin runs approximately along the 36th parallel in the western half and the 33rd in the eastern half. In the western half, west of the Sicily–Cap Bon line, biota are more boreal in character and overlap to a large degree with those of central Europe. To the east, biota have more affinities with central Asia (Blondel and Aronson 1999). Modern patterns of regional floral and faunal diversity mostly result from differential speciation and extinction rates during the Quaternary (Chapter 4).


Author(s):  
Michel Petit ◽  
Phillipe Le Grusse

The food and water challenges to be faced in the Mediterranean Basin, particularly those on the southern and eastern shores, are daunting. They form a complex nexus of problems and require policies pursuing several important potentially conflicting goals at the same time: reducing or limiting food import dependency through increased agricultural production in environmentally sustainable ways while protecting the natural resource base and keeping food affordable for poorer populations. The worrisome trends affecting countries on the southern and eastern shores of the common sea can also have seriously negative consequences in the North which explains why the North-South collaboration has a long tradition in the region. But, as the case of water management institutions shows, ineffective advocacy for trade liberalization has led to conflicts and tensions on various issues and has distracted attention from potentially much more fruitful areas of collaboration.


2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 2307-2320 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Drumond ◽  
R. Nieto ◽  
E. Hernandez ◽  
L. Gimeno

Abstract. Here, we describe our use of the Lagrangian 3-D FLEXPART model to investigate the variation in sources of moisture related to the drier and wetter conditions of the different regions that surround the Mediterranean Basin. We carried out seasonal analyses for the period from March 2000 to February 2005, and identified those years with the highest and lowest rates of precipitation by season, averaged over eight different continental regions. The variation in specific humidity along the 10-day backward trajectories of the particles identified over the target areas was tracked for the selected period, and the characteristics of the moisture sources were then compared between wetter and drier conditions by season. Although they only represented a relatively short period, the results suggest that in most of the years chosen, the moisture sources were more extensive and/or more intense during wetter periods. The contribution of the north Atlantic as a source of moisture is apparent for the Iberian Peninsula, for France and for Central North Africa. Otherwise, the Mediterranean Sea is the predominant source for Eastern North Africa, and for the Italian and Balkan Peninsulas. Local sources provide moisture for the Eastern Mediterranean and Western North Africa.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (13) ◽  
pp. 5383 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Comi ◽  
Antonio Polimeni

The paper aims to investigate short sea shipping services as a competitive, sustainable freight transport system which is able to respond to economic, social and environmental needs. An assessment methodology is proposed which considers an aggregate discrete choice model, simulating the split between the competitive transport alternatives in the Mediterranean basin. The proposed methodology was used to assess the potential of short sea shipping (SSS) and the net benefits deriving from lower external costs in the north-western Mediterranean basin. Two future scenarios are considered: introduction of new SSS services as envisaged by current EU projects and plans, and the introduction of new SSS routes and an increase in frequencies of existing services. Significant results were obtained in terms of shifting freight traffic from the road network as well as external benefits.


Antioxidants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 1213
Author(s):  
Alexandra Barbouti ◽  
Vlasios Goulas

Epidemiological studies performed during the second half of the previous century have correlated the diet that prevailed in the north shores of the Mediterranean basin with beneficial health effects, including reduced mortality risk and lower incidences of cardiovascular diseases [...]


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