The EU as a Maritime Security Actor in the Mediterranean Sea

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kira Frankenthal
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Maritime Security ◽  
Security Environment ◽  
Strategic Approach ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Security Actor ◽  
The One ◽  
Strategic Autonomy ◽  
Practical Conduct ◽  
The Eu

This study analyses the EU’s potential as a strategically autonomous maritime security presence in the Mediterranean Sea. Against the backdrop of Europe’s changing external security environment, the EU has signalled its ambition to enhance its role as a global security presence in its latest strategies. Accordingly, this study undertakes a comparative analysis of the EU’s strategic approach to maritime security and defence on the one hand and its practical conduct in the case of Operation Sophia on the other. Analysing the EU’s degree of strategic autonomy in terms of its envisaged and actual capacity to act not only allows for a better understanding of the EU’s ambitions, but also reveals the problems the EU is facing on site, which may hamper the realisation of its potential in the sensitive area of CSDP.

scholarly journals Variations in Moisture Supply from the Mediterranean Sea during Meteorological Drought Episodes over Central Europe

Atmosphere ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milica Stojanovic ◽  
Anita Drumond ◽  
Raquel Nieto ◽  
Luis Gimeno
Keyword(s):  
Linear Relationship ◽  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Linear Regression Analysis ◽  
Meteorological Drought ◽  
Time Analysis ◽  
Moisture Supply ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The One ◽  
Annual Summer

The climate in Central Europe (CEU) during the 20th century is characterized by an overall temperature increase. Severe and prolonged drought events began occurring towards the end and these have continued into the 21st century. This study aims to analyze variations in the moisture supply from the Mediterranean Sea (MDS) during meteorological drought episodes occurring over the CEU region over the last three decades. A total of 51 meteorological drought episodes (22 with summer onsets, and 29 with winter) are identified over the CEU during the period 1980–2015 through the one-month Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI-1), and their respective indicators, including duration, severity, intensity, and peak values, are then computed. Lagrangian forward-in-time analysis reveals that negative anomalies of moisture coming from the MDS prevail in all episodes except seven. Linear regression analysis between variations in the MDS anomalies and indicators of the drought episodes shows a significant linear relationship between severity, duration, peak values (winter), and MDS anomalies, which implies that drought episodes last longer and are more severe with an increase in the negative anomaly of moisture supply from the MDS. Nevertheless, no linear relationship is found between the intensity and peak values (annual, summer) of drought episodes and anomalies in the moisture contribution from the MDS.

scholarly journals Mediterranean Tropical-Like Cyclones in Present and Future Climate

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (19) ◽  
pp. 7493-7501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leone Cavicchia ◽  
Hans von Storch ◽  
Silvio Gualdi
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Tropical Cyclones ◽  
Dynamical Evolution ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios ◽  
Moderate Increase ◽  
High Resolution Data ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The One

Abstract The Mediterranean has been identified as one of the most responsive regions to climate change. It has been conjectured that one of the effects of a warmer climate could be to make the Mediterranean Sea prone to the formation of hurricanes. Already in the present climate regime, however, a few of the numerous low pressure systems that form in the area develop a dynamical evolution similar to the one of tropical cyclones. Even if their spatial extent is generally smaller and the life cycle shorter compared to tropical cyclones, such storms produce severe damage on the highly populated coastal areas surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. This study, based on the analysis of individual realistically simulated storms in homogeneous long-term and high-resolution data from multiple climate change scenarios, shows that the projected effect of climate change on Mediterranean tropical-like cyclones is decreased frequency and a tendency toward a moderate increase of intensity.

scholarly journals Interannual variability of the Mediterranean trophic regimes from ocean color satellites

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (17) ◽  
pp. 14941-14980 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Mayot ◽  
F. D'Ortenzio ◽  
M. Ribera d'Alcalà ◽  
H. Lavigne ◽  
H. Claustre
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Interannual Variability ◽  
Deep Convection ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Ocean Color ◽  
Run Off ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The One ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. D'Ortenzio and Ribera d'Alcalà (2009, DR09 hereafter) divided the Mediterranean Sea into "bioregions" based on the climatological seasonality (phenology) of phytoplankton. Here we investigate the interannual variability of this bioregionalization. Using 16 years of available ocean color observations (i.e. SeaWiFS and MODIS), we analyzed the spatial distribution of the DR09 trophic regimes on an annual basis. Additionally, we identified new trophic regimes, with seasonal cycles of phytoplankton biomass different from the DR09 climatological description and named "Anomalous". Overall, the classification of the Mediterranean phytoplankton phenology proposed by DR09 (i.e. "No Bloom", "Intermittently", "Bloom" and "Coastal"), is confirmed to be representative of most of the Mediterranean phytoplankton phenologies. The mean spatial distribution of these trophic regimes (i.e. bioregions) over the 16 years studied is also similar to the one proposed by DR09. But at regional scale some annual differences, in their spatial distribution and in the emergence of "Anomalous" trophic regimes, were observed compared to the DR09 description. These dissimilarities with the DR09 study were related to interannual variability in the sub-basin forcing: winter deep convection events, frontal instabilities, inflow of Atlantic or Black Sea Waters and river run-off. The large assortment of phytoplankton phenologies identified in the Mediterranean Sea is thus verified at interannual level, confirming the "sentinel" role of this basin to detect the impact of climate changes on the pelagic environment.

scholarly journals MedArgo: a drifting profiler program in the Mediterranean Sea

Ocean Science ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 379-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.-M. Poulain ◽  
R. Barbanti ◽  
J. Font ◽  
A. Cruzado ◽  
C. Millot ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Cellular Phone ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Profile Data ◽  
Forecasting Models ◽  
Salinity Data ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Eu

Abstract. In the framework of the EU-funded MFSTEP project, autonomous drifting profilers were deployed throughout the Mediterranean Sea to collect temperature and salinity profile data and to measure subsurface currents. The realization of this profiler program in the Mediterranean, referred to as MedArgo, is described and assessed using data collected between June 2004 and December 2006 (including more than 2000 profiles). Recommendations are provided for the permanent future implementation of MedArgo in support of operational oceanography in the Mediterranean Sea. More than twenty drifting profilers were deployed from research vessels and ships-of-opportunity in most areas of the Mediterranean. They were all programmed to execute 5-day cycles with a drift at a parking depth of 350 m and CTD profiles from either 700 or 2000 m up to the surface. They stayed at the sea surface for about 6 h to be localised by, and transmit the data to, the Argos satellite system. The temperature and salinity data obtained with pumped Sea-Bird CTD instruments were processed and made available to the scientific community and to operational users in near-real time using standard Argo protocols, and were assimilated into Mediterranean numerical forecasting models. In general, the cycling and sampling characteristics chosen for the MedArgo profilers were found to be adequate for the Mediterranean. However, it is strongly advised to use GPS and global cellular phone telemetry or the future Argos bi-directional satellite system in order to avoid data compression and losses, for the continuation of the Mediterranean drifting profiler program.

Evaluating Cultural Routes for a Network of Competitive Cities in the Mediterranean Sea: The Eastern Monasticism in Western Mediterranean Area

2014 ◽  
Vol 1073-1076 ◽  
pp. 1418-1422 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Calabrò ◽  
Daniele Campolo ◽  
Giuseppina Cassalia ◽  
Carmela Tramontana
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Southern Italy ◽  
Mediterranean Area ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Mediterranean History ◽  
Geographical Position ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The One ◽  
Cultural Routes

Calabria region (Southern Italy) has become the nerve center of historical events, decisive for the Mediterranean sea destiny, because of its geographical position, its centrality in the Mediterranean area, the peculiarities of the district and the wealth of natural resources. The effects of its role in the Mediterranean history are still visible in its natural, urban and social structure, thus giving the region a large number of cultural and environmental values, which find root in the three preceding millennia. The paper, starting from the most historic routes that have affected the Calabrian coast, aims to highlight the one that has the greatest impact on the culture of the region trying to figure out if it is possible to identify, protect and promote a cultural route according to the ICOMOS Charter of Cultural Routes criteria, devised by the ICOMOS’ international Scientific Committee of Cultural Routes (CIIC) and ratified by the 16th General Assembly of ICOMOS, in Quebec (Canada), October 4, 2008.

The European Union in the Mediterranean Sea: Navigating the Political-Legal Shallows

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 271-298
Author(s):  
Stephan F.H. Ollick
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The Political ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Regime Complex ◽  
International Migrants ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The Eu

The Mediterranean Sea has long been an important and perilous route for international migrants from the coast of North Africa to the European Union (EU). Manygrants and refugees travelling on overcrowded and unseaworthy dinghies do not survive the crossing. Rising numbers of fatalities put pressure on the EU to address the Mediterranean tragedy with renewed urgency. Frontex Operation Triton (2014–) and the naval mission eunavfor med Operation SOPHIA (2015–) were launched to survey and influence migratory flows. Although thousands of migrants and refugees have thus been delivered from distress at sea, casualty rates remain staggeringly high. Some commentators and organizations have dismissed Frontex and eunavfor med Operation SOPHIA as vehicles of an isolationist political agenda. This overlooks the narrow legal, political and practical confines within which these initiatives operate. Frontex and eunavfor med Operation SOPHIA seek to attain a level of control necessary for the delayed implementation of more ambitious and forward-looking schemes. The unsophisticated, temporary nature of the regime complex currently governing the EU’s activities in the Mediterranean Sea manifests in ambiguous language, in frequent and disparate amendments, and in the brevity of the mandates thus dispensed.

scholarly journals Activity patterns, home-range size, and habitat utilization of Sarpa salpa (Teleostei: Sparidae) in the Mediterranean Sea

2006 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 128-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Jadot ◽  
A. Donnay ◽  
M.L. Acolas ◽  
Y. Cornet ◽  
M.L. Bégout Anras
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Home Range Size ◽  
Body Cavity ◽  
Habitat Utilization ◽  
The Body ◽  
Night Time ◽  
Sarpa Salpa ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The One

Abstract Acoustic telemetry was used to record diel movement and habitat utilization of the salema (Sarpa salpa) (Teleostei: Sparidae) during three consecutive summers from 2000 to 2002 in the Calvi and Achiarina bays of Corsica in the Mediterranean Sea. A total of 18 fish was equipped with acoustic transmitters inserted in the body cavity, 13 were tracked in the Bay of Calvi (275 mm ± 26.9 LF), and 5 in Achiarina Bay (260 mm ± 33.6 LF). Two different systems were used to track the fish. The one used in the Bay of Calvi was a manual receiver and a directional hydrophone. The second system, used in Achiarina Bay, was a radio-acoustic-positioning (RAP) system that continuously monitored the movements of the fish. Fish positions were put in a geographic information system (GIS) with information on the substratum and depth. Two patterns of behaviour could be identified in the three years. Either the fish had clearly defined daytime as opposed to night-time areas of residency, characterized by different depths and substrata or the fish persistently occupied the same sites during both day and night. In the Bay of Calvi, six fish were released 1 km from the capture site. All of them showed homing ability and returned to the site within 48 h.

scholarly journals Troubled Water in the Eastern Mediterranean. Turkey Challenges Greece and Cyprus Regarding Energy Resources

2021 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 133-152
Author(s):  
Heinz-Jürgen Axt
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
International Community ◽  
The Other ◽  
Energy Resources ◽  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
Competitive Prices ◽  
Negative Perceptions ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The One

Abstract The conflict between Turkey on the one hand and Greece and Cyprus on the other was exacerbated when Turkey and Libya reached an agreement on the delimitation of maritime zones to explore and exploit energy resources in late 2019. The countries were on the brink of military confrontation. This was the latest climax of a longer period of conflict and mistrust, during which negative perceptions became more entrenched on all sides. Energy is globally high in demand but exploiting resources in the Mediterranean Sea at competitive prices is difficult. The international community has developed an ambitious Law of the Sea, but its interpretation is controversial. Compromises are needed to de-escalate. What might serve as a ‘bridge over troubled waters’ in the Eastern Mediterranean? The author comments on the available options.

scholarly journals An overview of bottom trawl selectivity in the Mediterranean Sea

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 566
Author(s):  
ALESSANDRO LUCCHETTI ◽  
MASSIMO VIRGILI ◽  
CLAUDIO VASAPOLLO ◽  
ANDREA PETETTA ◽  
GIADA BARGIONE ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Bottom Trawl ◽  
Bottom Trawling ◽  
Fish Stocks ◽  
Biological Impacts ◽  
Global Concern ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The One ◽  
First Maturity ◽  
Ecologically Sustainable

In the Mediterranean Sea, where bottom trawling for demersal species is the most important fishery in terms of landings, around 75% of the assessed fish stocks are overfished. Its status as one of the world’s most heavily exploited seas and the one subject to the highest trawling pressure has become a global concern. An extensive review of bottom trawl selectivity studies was performed to assess the sustainability of this fishery in the Mediterranean; the selectivity parameters were collected from 93 peer-reviewed publications of 10 countries, totalling 742 records and 65 species. The review highlighted that i) the catch of bottom trawls commonly employed in the Mediterranean, even complying with current regulations on codend meshes, still includes immature individuals for 64-68% of the species investigated, and individuals under the minimum conservation reference size (MCRS) for 78% of the species investigated, and that ii) the MCRS set for 59% of the species analyzed is well below their length at first maturity, and is therefore ecologically inadequate. Although square-mesh codends are slightly more selective, the models developed herein demonstrate that improving size and species selectivity would require considerably larger meshes, which may significantly reduce profitability. The urgent need to reduce the biological impacts of bottom trawling in the Mediterranean should be addressed by promoting the adoption of more ecologically sustainable fishing gears through the introduction of more selective meshes or gear modifications.

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