Dive underwater to see Italy's first 'Smart Bay' where biologists monitor effects of climate change on the Med

Record ID: 1638810

  • Title: Dive underwater to see Italy's first 'Smart Bay' where biologists monitor effects of climate change on the Med
  • Date: 27th September 2021
  • Summary: LERICI, ITALY (RECENT - SEPTEMBER 15, 2021) (REUTERS) LOMBARDI GIVING SENSOR TO RESEARCHER (SOUNDBITE) (English) MARINE BIOLOGIST AND ENEA RESEARCHER, CHIARA LOMBARDI, SAYING: "The Smart Bay intended to...through cooperation the idea is to try to help a local administration to point the attention about climate change and try to use new strategies for the growth in the future which are sustainable which also are using the ecosystem and the natural capital as a source of changes. In terms of the bay, the long-term plan is to try to convert this bay which is around sustainable tourism and diving and natural capital as a carbon-neutrality bay."
  • Embargoed: 11th October 2021 13:25
  • Keywords: Mediterranean Sea Smart Bay climate change environment marine
  • Location: LERICI, ITALY
  • City: LERICI, ITALY
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: Climate Adaptation and Solution,Climate Change,Environment,Europe,General News,Editors' Choice
  • Reuters ID: LVA005EWHWCIH
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: On the Ligurian coast, tucked up on Italy's north western coastline, biologists and environmentalists are seeking to battle against the effects of climate change in the Mediterranean Sea with the use of a 'Smart Bay.'
    The Santa Teresa Smart Bay, situated on the coast at Lerici, is Italy's first and is an underwater 'living' laboratory, in an area noted for tourism and diving.
    The small bay was chosen by researchers from ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development) and CNR (Italy's National Research Council) as a perfect location to closely monitor the seawater, using bryozoans (aquatic invertebrate animals) and other sessile organisms (organisms that are anchored to something) as 'living sensors'.
    Of particular interest is the PH of the Mediterranean Sea, the amount of acidity and the level of oxygen in the water. Biologists are concerned the Med is becoming hotter and more acidic which would not only change the habitat of many native species but also lead to more violent changes in weather systems such as an increased frequency in Mediterranean tornadoes.
    Marine biologist and ENEA researcher Chiara Lombardi has created an underwater 'farm' of bryozoans living in sedentary colonies and marine polychaete worms. These little animals use the carbonates in the water to grow their shells and due to a rise of the acidity in the Mediterranean waters, linked to pollution and to high temperatures, Lombardi can easily assess how the growth of the animals has slowed down.
    Using an underwater probe, called 'Tinetto', Lombardi can also assess the PH and the levels of oxygen of the water, two vital parameters for the health of the Mediterranean and its marine population.
    "What we are doing is monitoring the carbonate chemistry of the water as well as physical properties and what we have been observing is that climate change is occurring in the Mediterranean sea", Lombardi told Reuters.
    "We are monitoring PH which is also related to ocean acidification and the oxygen level which is related to hypoxia which is causing a lot of damage around the Mediterranean ecosystem including also the aquaculture," she said.
    The name Mediterranean Sea, derives from the Latin name meaning 'in the middle of land'. It represents 0.7% of the global ocean surface and is a semi-enclosed basin with its only connection to the Atlantic via the Strait of Gibraltar, which gives it's waters unique characteristics. There is very little swell and its waters have only a small amount of nutrients due to the low flow of rivers that reach it. There has also been a high amount of over fishing and pollution.
    As well as data collection Lombardi hopes to develop the Smart Bay to work alongside local businesses particularly involving local fisherman and the tourist industry to make their work more eco-friendly in future.
    Lombardi's goal is to create a completely sustainable and carbon-neutral bay, which can combine the sustainable use and management of resources and the technological development of scientific research in a natural setting.
    "The idea is to try to help a local administration to point the attention about climate change and try to use new strategies for the growth in the future which are sustainable which also are using the ecosystem and the natural capital as a source of changes," Lombardi said.
    "In terms of the bay, the long-term plan is to try to convert this bay which is around sustainable tourism and diving and natural capital as a carbon-neutrality bay," she said.
    The bay also provides useful data for the study of extreme weather events that are becoming more and more common in European countries such as Italy, Greece, Spain, and France.
    ENEA researcher and ocean expert, Franco Reseghetti, has been monitoring water temperature changes in the Mediterranean for years. His research provides forecasting models that hope to predict extreme weather phenomena on the coasts and on land caused by the effects of sea warming on the lower layers of the atmosphere, such as the 'Medicane' - or Mediterranean tornado - that are becoming more frequent. Reseghetti said while data gathering is getting better, researchers still do not have the answers for why things appear to be changing and importantly, how to stop it.
    "Analysing the phenomenon, we can say that in the past few years we have noticed a mass of warm, salty water that slowly came from the coast of Sicily, arrived halfway up the coast of Sardinia and into the Corsican Channel, and then sank into the Ligurian Sea. And we don't know why, which shows us how great our ignorance is, unfortunately," he said.
    "The Mediterranean Sea has basically become a hotspot of what is happening globally in the world's oceans. This is a bit worrying, not only from the point of view of changes in the living species that now find totally different living conditions but also because these conditions lead to extreme and violent atmospheric events," Reseghetti explained.
    "The problem could be that in the long term the Mediterranean could completely change its characteristics," he said.
    "We must bear in mind how important the sea is for Italy, but not only for Italy, just think of France, Greece, and Spain, which this year have paid a very high price in terms of alternating fires and water bombs," he said.
    "These extreme events should make us think that perhaps it really is time to stop talking and start acting."
    (Production: Alex Fraser, Oriana Boselli, Eleanor Biles)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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