Extreme sea temperatures endanger posidonia in Ibiza

Sea temperatures in Talamanca Bay exceeded 28 degrees Celsius for 11 days in August 2024, putting posidonia at risk.

According to a statement released Monday, September 8, by the IbizaPreservation Foundation, between August 4 and 14, 2024, sea temperatures at this site surpassed 28 degrees, the threshold beyond which Posidonia oceanica mortality spikes.

The data comes from temperature sensors installed by the environmental group GEN-GOB and funded by IbizaPreservation.

The highest temperature recorded in the area that year was 29.26 degrees, reached on August 13 at 4:00 p.m. This thermal level, sustained over several consecutive days, caused prolonged stress on the marine plant.

“The fact that sea temperatures exceed 28 degrees for several days in the middle of summer is concerning because it directly compromises the health of posidonia,” explained the IbizaPreservation Sustainability Observatory.

GEN-GOB stressed that the rise in sea temperature is not an isolated phenomenon but rather a consequence of advancing climate change, reminding that the Paris Agreement calls for halving emissions from 1990s levels in order to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial values.

“However, last year we already surpassed those thresholds, and the trend is very worrying,” they warned.

Along these lines, the IbizaPreservation Sustainability Observatory emphasized that, given the impossibility of controlling current sea temperatures, it is urgent to act on other factors threatening posidonia.