Thread by @JGarrabou

While a severe 2022 #marineheatwave is affecting the #Mediterranean Sea, what are the lessons learnt from past #MHW?

1⃣ Tens of sessile species belonging to diverse groups (corals, sponges, algae...) can be affected by mass mortality events,.... will new ones enlarge the list?

2⃣ Large scale mass mortality events can affect thousands of km of coastline across all Mediterranean ecoregions, probably most of the affected areas have been already impacted by previous events...will new areas will enlarge the list?

3⃣ #Marineheatwave are not only observed in the sea surface, but they propagate down in the water column, correspondingly mass mortality events impacts are visible from surface down to +40m depth...will the events will reach depths never impacted before?

4⃣ The incidence of mass mortality events is related to #marineheatwave (MHWs) duration and intensity, thus the longer the MHWs, the higher can be the mortality incidence across the Mediterranean

5⃣ In the worst cases mass mortality events are driving to the collapse the affected habitats ...recovery rarely observed with significant changes in the structure and the functioning of coastal #marinebiodiversity

6⃣ Mass mortality events are only one of the major consequences of #marineheatwaves, but there are others: shifts in species distribution, impacts in pelagic habitats, changes in phenology...

#ClimateAction is NOW if we want to tackle the acceleration of #ClimateChange impacts

7⃣You can find more information in our recetnly published @GlobalChangeBio paper and the references therein

📄 bit.ly/3ITrylW