MADRID - The Mediterranean Sea is particularly sensitive to climate change, which is aggravating heat waves and torrential rainfall in the area, a study by the MediterraneanCenterforEnvironmentalStudies (CEAM)has shown.

The research, published in the journal 'Pure and Applied Geophysics', shows above-average temperature rises both in the west and in the east Mediterranean. Comparative figures dating to 1982 show that the surface temperature of the sea has risen by an average of 1.3 degrees Celsius, while in some areas it has risen by as much as 2 degrees Celsius. On the Spanish coast temperatures have risen by 1 degree Celsius in the south and by 1.5 degrees Celsius in Catalonia. According to the fifth report on the Evaluation of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Ipcc), from 2013, the global surface temperature has been rising since 1950 together with the sea level and extreme weather events. Furthermore, projections show that surface temperatures will continue to rise over the coming centuries even in the event of a drastic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. The CEAM researchers predict that storms will become more intense as temperatures rise, since the Mediterranean surface temperatures influence not only storms in the basin but also heavy rainfall in central Europe. And they believe they may have aggravated the historic heatwave in 2003.