The Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea, which is considered a biodiversity hotspot, is, by far, the leading tourism destination in the world, receiving more than 267 million international tourists in 2017, and producing a high anthropogenic pressure on its natural environ
- PDF / 561,043 Bytes
- 31 Pages / 439.37 x 666.142 pts Page_size
- 57 Downloads / 165 Views
ontents 1 Physical and Biochemical Characteristics of the Mediterranean Sea 2 Coastal and Maritime Tourism in the Mediterranean Sea: Balearic Islands as an Example of a Massive Tourism Destination 3 Sunscreens in Coastal Ecosystems: Consumption Patterns in Mediterranean Countries and Concentrations Found in the Mediterranean Sea Environment 4 Sunscreens in Coastal Ecosystems: Potential Toxic Effects of Sunscreen Products in Mediterranean Marine Species 4.1 Toxic Effects of Organic UV Filters on Marine Biota 4.2 Toxic Effects of Inorganic UV Filters on Marine Biota 4.3 Toxic Effects of Commercial Sunscreen Products on Marine Biota 4.4 Emerging Challenges and Future Directions References
Abstract The Mediterranean Sea, which is considered a biodiversity hotspot, is, by far, the leading tourism destination in the world, receiving more than 267 million international tourists in 2017, and producing a high anthropogenic pressure on its natural environment. The arrival of these tourists is mainly concentrated during the summer season when the use of sunscreen is higher among population. This chapter addressed the potential impact that the use and dumping of sunscreen components has in the Mediterranean Sea and the toxic effects of these components on its local marine biota (e.g. Paracentrotus lividus and Mytilus galloprovincialis), highlighting the lack of information on emblematic endangered species such as the seagrass Posidonia oceanica. Keywords Biodiversity, Environmental threats, Mediterranean Sea, Sunscreen, Tourism
A. Tovar-Sánchez (*), D. Sánchez-Quiles, and A. Rodríguez-Romero Department of Ecology and Coastal Management, Institute of Marine Sciences of Andalusia (CSIC), Cádiz, Spain e-mail: [email protected] Antonio Tovar-Sánchez, David Sánchez-Quiles, and Julián Blasco (eds.), Sunscreens in Coastal Ecosystems: Occurrence, Behavior, Effect and Risk, Hdb Env Chem, DOI 10.1007/698_2019_443, © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
A. Tovar-Sánchez et al.
1 Physical and Biochemical Characteristics of the Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea (MS) encompasses a number of physical, chemical, biological, and socioeconomical characteristics that make this Sea unique. It is a marginal and semi-enclosed basin (with about 2.5 million km2 excluding the Black Sea), where evaporation (934–1,176 mm/year) exceed precipitation (331–477 mm/year) and river discharges (160–180 mm/year) [1]. This generates a hydric deficit that is compensated with inflow of Atlantic water in the surface layer through the narrow Strait of Gibraltar that, with 12.8 km width and over 300 m depth, is the unique connection with the open ocean. Outflow of denser MS water occurs in the same point at deeper layers. Thus, the inflow of Atlantic water has been estimated to be 0.72–0.92Sv and the outflow of Mediterranean water to be 0.68–0.88Sv [2]. The limited water exchange of the MS with the ocean results in an elevated residence time (3.8 and 7.7 years for the surface water of Western and Eastern Mediterranean, respectively) [3], a tidal signal of the order o
Data Loading...
