GESOther: Level of altered parameter

D7C2 Adverse effects from permanent alteration of hydrographical conditions (7.2, 7.2.1, 7.2.2)

D7C2 Adverse effects from permanent alteration of hydrographical conditions (7.2, 7.2.1, 7.2.2)

D7C2 Adverse effects from permanent alteration of hydrographical conditions (7.2, 7.2.1, 7.2.2)

LevelPressure

ImpactPressureWaterColumn

ImpactPressureSeabedHabitats

ImpactPressureFunctionalGroup

Hydrological7_1

HydrologicalWaterColumnHabitats7_2

HydrologicalSeabedHabitats7_2

HydrologicalFunctionalGroups7_2

CurrentVelocity, MarineCoast, MarineOceanic, MarineShelf, Mixing, NutrientLevels, OxygenLevels, pH, RedSalinity, ResidenceTime, Salinity, SeaBottomTemperature, SeaSurfaceTemperature, Transparency, Turbidity, Upwelling, VarSalinity

LBathRock, LBathSed, ShallMud, ShallMxdSed, ShallRock, ShallSand, ShelfCoarseSed, ShelfMud, ShelfRock, ShelfSand, UBathRock, UBathSed

FishCoastal, FishDemersal, FishPelagic, MammalsSeals, ReptilesTurtles

Good

Good

NotAssessed

NotAssessed

Unknown_NotAssessed

Unknown_NotAssessed

Unknown_NotAssessed

Unknown_NotAssessed

NotRelevant

NotRelevant

NotRelevant

NotRelevant

We cannot know the trend over the next 12 years due to the fact that the natural decadal variability is much stronger than the mean anthropogenic trend. Also, the economic crisis is introducing a great unknown variable regarding the use of fossil fuel

We cannot know the trend over the next 12 years due to the fact that the natural decadal variability is much stronger than the mean anthropogenic trend. Also, the economic crisis is introducing a great unknown variable regarding the use of fossil fuel

We cannot know the trend over the next 12 years due to the fact that the natural decadal variability is much stronger than the mean anthropogenic trend. Also, the economic crisis is introducing a great unknown variable regarding the use of fossil fuel

We cannot know the trend over the next 12 years due to the fact that the natural decadal variability is much stronger than the mean anthropogenic trend. Also, the economic crisis is introducing a great unknown variable regarding the use of fossil fuel

Since the 1980s the temperature and salinity of the Mediterranean are increasing, and these increases are expected to continue in the twenty-first century. These trends have been attributed to human activities: the temperature increase has been attributed to the –planetary scale– anthropogenic greenhouse effect, while the salinity increase has been attributed both to global and regional scale anthropogenic activities, the latter consisting of damming the major rivers of the Mediterranean and the Black Seas. The above interference is extended throughout the Mediterranean; the most sensitive area being the North Aegean, receiver of the Black Sea Water outflow. The current intensity of this interference is low; however, it is considered of great long-term importance. Further interferences exist at a very local, coastal level. The deep Western Epidavros basin in Saronikos Gulf, a tiny fraction of the Aegean Sea, has become anoxic since 1993. The ventilation of this basin was intermittent over decades even before that year (as the 1970s record reveals), but since then a probable combination of stratified conditions and a higher provision of organic matter (due probably to the construction of the Athens sewage treatment plant on the islet of Psyttaleia) has resulted to the establishment of an anoxic layer in the bottom layer of the basin, with obvious ecological impacts. Another problematic region is the Gulf of Elefsis, in the NW Saronikos Gulf, due to the combination of morphology and bathymetry limiting the circulation and the vicinity to major industrial and shipping activities of the Athens Metropolitan Area

The temperature and salinity increasing trends directly impact the local vertical stratification of the water column, and that can modify the overturning circulation of certain regions of the Mediterranean, especially the regions that have been recorded to be very sensitive to such changes, as the North and Central Aegean Seas. Both temperature and salinity trends are positive, thus they counteract in their contribution to density: the temperature increase of the upper layers (first receivers of impacts) tends to increase the stratification of the water column, while the salinity increase tends to decrease it. In the late 1980s to early 1990s the combination of these factors contributed to a major deep water formation event in the Aegean, which affected eventually the whole Mediterranean Sea. Despite the fact that the impact to the marine ecosystem has not been well recorded due to absence of data, such cataclysmic events alter residence times, thermohaline functioning and mixing characteristics. As a result, major changes in nutrient and dissolved oxygen concentrations have been recorded, both in the open sea as well as the coastal problematic regions as the Western Epidavros basin and Elefsis Bay. These changes, as well as the highly stratified period that followed, which in some cases hindered (while in western Epidavros restricted) the ventilation of the deeper layers, have potentially great impact on the marine ecosystem, with the extreme case being Epidavros, where the anoxic layer was developed killing all oxydating life-forms.

The above processes that have impacted the water column, also affected the benthic ecosystem (Danovaro et al., 2001). The direct impact of a different water-mass constituting the new bottom layer affects both the benthic faunal density and biomass, as well as the bacterial density and activity. Furthermore, the consequent upwelling of nutrient-rich water in the euphotic zone increase the downward flux of organic matter through the enhanced primary production. Thus the new dense water formation processes cause short-term increases of the benthic organic matter. Another interference with hydrological processes is the progressive tropicalization of the Mediterranean ecosystem. Since the opening of the Suez canal in 1869, several Indopacific species find favorable environment in the gradually warming Levantine Sea, and currently have colonized the Aegean, thus adding further pressure to the local ecosystem. This pressure keeps increasing through the continued and accelerated warming trends and the successive widening and deepening of the canal. In the Epidavros basin the development of an anoxic layer near the bottom has a catastrophic impact of the benthic ecosystem, eliminating oxygen-depended life and causing an increase of the organic matter of the sediments. In the intermittently ventilated Elefsis Bay, the development of anthropogenic hypoxia may be related to long term warming trends.

As mentioned above, there are significant physical, chemical and biological impacts of the warming and saltying trends of the Med, arising from decadal-scale changes in the overturning circulation – especially in the Aegean sea. However, their effect on functional groups cannot be assessed due to the sporadic nature of information and the complicity of processes involved. Exceptions constitute probably the invasions of Lessepsian species in the Mediterranean, aided by the warming of the Levantine Sea, and the case of Epidavros basin, where the anoxia of the deep layer does not allow the survival of any oxidizing species.

High

Moderate

Non related GES component

Non related GES component

Increasing

Unknown_NotAssessed

One of the major human activities that interfere with the hydrological processes of the marine environment is the burning of fossil fuels, thus increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and the consequent enhancement of the anthropogenic greenhouse effect, resulting to increased temperatures at the surface of the Earth. According to IPCC report increased temperatures and about 30% more drought in the Mediterranean basin are expected. The second human activity interfering with hydrological processes is the alteration of land-sea freshwater exchanges mostly through the construction of dams and use of water in human activities. It has been shown that the construction of dams throughout the Mediterranean is accountable for about 40% of the observed salinity rise (Skliris and Lascaratos, 2004; Skliris et al., 2006), and that estimate could be higher after consideration also of Central and Eastern European rivers outflowing in the Black Sea. This activity, after reaching its peak in the 1970s is now gradually reduced, and the regionally-induced freshwater balance changes are being stabilized. The construction of Suez canal can be included in this activity. The connection to the Red Sea is a salt source for the Mediterranean, however its effects regarding the direct hydrological processes and the saltwater budget of the Mediterranean are minimal, when compared with the river damming. The second human activity that interferes with hydrological processes is the alteration of land-sea freshwater exchanges mostly through the construction of dams and use of water in human activities. It has been shown that the construction of dams throughout the Mediterranean is accountable for about 40% of the observed salinity rise (Skliris and Lascaratos, 2004; Skliris et al., 2006), and that estimate could be higher after consideration also of Central and Eastern European rivers outflowing in the Black Sea. This activity, after reaching its peak in the 1970s is now gradually reduced, and the regionally-induced freshwater balance changes are being stabilized. The construction of Suez canal can be included in this activity. The connection to the Red Sea is a salt source for the Mediterranean, however its effects regarding the direct hydrological processes and the saltwater budget of the Mediterranean are minimal, when compared with the river damming. One last group of activities, capable of playing a local role, is the interference with the land-sea water exchange at local level. River damming, the use of water for cooling coastal powerplants, desalinization plants, urban water sewage facilities can disturb the freshwater, heat and salt balance of a coastal area, depending on the rate of renewal of its water body. Of the three above classes, the major disturbances arise from river damming (and also large sewage and water deflection facilities), however as most of the construction took place in the 1970s and 1980s, there is a lack of data for assessing the effects of damming on the local coastal hydrological balances. There are no recorded examples of significant local disturbances of the hydrological processes in theIonian Sea due to heat or salt pollution from local human activities

One of the major human activities that interfere with the hydrological processes of the marine environment is the burning of fossil fuels, thus increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and the consequent enhancement of the anthropogenic greenhouse effect, resulting to increased temperatures at the surface of the Earth. According to IPCC report increased temperatures and about 30% more drought in the Mediterranean basin are expected. The second human activity interfering with hydrological processes is the alteration of land-sea freshwater exchanges mostly through the construction of dams and use of water in human activities. It has been shown that the construction of dams throughout the Mediterranean is accountable for about 40% of the observed salinity rise (Skliris and Lascaratos, 2004; Skliris et al., 2006), and that estimate could be higher after consideration also of Central and Eastern European rivers outflowing in the Black Sea. This activity, after reaching its peak in the 1970s is now gradually reduced, and the regionally-induced freshwater balance changes are being stabilized. The construction of Suez canal can be included in this activity. The connection to the Red Sea is a salt source for the Mediterranean, however its effects regarding the direct hydrological processes and the saltwater budget of the Mediterranean are minimal, when compared with the river damming. The second human activity that interferes with hydrological processes is the alteration of land-sea freshwater exchanges mostly through the construction of dams and use of water in human activities. It has been shown that the construction of dams throughout the Mediterranean is accountable for about 40% of the observed salinity rise (Skliris and Lascaratos, 2004; Skliris et al., 2006), and that estimate could be higher after consideration also of Central and Eastern European rivers outflowing in the Black Sea. This activity, after reaching its peak in the 1970s is now gradually reduced, and the regionally-induced freshwater balance changes are being stabilized. The construction of Suez canal can be included in this activity. The connection to the Red Sea is a salt source for the Mediterranean, however its effects regarding the direct hydrological processes and the saltwater budget of the Mediterranean are minimal, when compared with the river damming. One last group of activities, capable of playing a local role, is the interference with the land-sea water exchange at local level. River damming, the use of water for cooling coastal powerplants, desalinization plants, urban water sewage facilities can disturb the freshwater, heat and salt balance of a coastal area, depending on the rate of renewal of its water body. Of the three above classes, the major disturbances arise from river damming (and also large sewage and water deflection facilities), however as most of the construction took place in the 1970s and 1980s, there is a lack of data for assessing the effects of damming on the local coastal hydrological balances. There are no recorded examples of significant local disturbances of the hydrological processes in theIonian Sea due to heat or salt pollution from local human activities

One of the major human activities that interfere with the hydrological processes of the marine environment is the burning of fossil fuels, thus increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and the consequent enhancement of the anthropogenic greenhouse effect, resulting to increased temperatures at the surface of the Earth. According to IPCC report increased temperatures and about 30% more drought in the Mediterranean basin are expected. The second human activity interfering with hydrological processes is the alteration of land-sea freshwater exchanges mostly through the construction of dams and use of water in human activities. It has been shown that the construction of dams throughout the Mediterranean is accountable for about 40% of the observed salinity rise (Skliris and Lascaratos, 2004; Skliris et al., 2006), and that estimate could be higher after consideration also of Central and Eastern European rivers outflowing in the Black Sea. This activity, after reaching its peak in the 1970s is now gradually reduced, and the regionally-induced freshwater balance changes are being stabilized. The construction of Suez canal can be included in this activity. The connection to the Red Sea is a salt source for the Mediterranean, however its effects regarding the direct hydrological processes and the saltwater budget of the Mediterranean are minimal, when compared with the river damming. The second human activity that interferes with hydrological processes is the alteration of land-sea freshwater exchanges mostly through the construction of dams and use of water in human activities. It has been shown that the construction of dams throughout the Mediterranean is accountable for about 40% of the observed salinity rise (Skliris and Lascaratos, 2004; Skliris et al., 2006), and that estimate could be higher after consideration also of Central and Eastern European rivers outflowing in the Black Sea. This activity, after reaching its peak in the 1970s is now gradually reduced, and the regionally-induced freshwater balance changes are being stabilized. The construction of Suez canal can be included in this activity. The connection to the Red Sea is a salt source for the Mediterranean, however its effects regarding the direct hydrological processes and the saltwater budget of the Mediterranean are minimal, when compared with the river damming. One last group of activities, capable of playing a local role, is the interference with the land-sea water exchange at local level. River damming, the use of water for cooling coastal powerplants, desalinization plants, urban water sewage facilities can disturb the freshwater, heat and salt balance of a coastal area, depending on the rate of renewal of its water body. Of the three above classes, the major disturbances arise from river damming (and also large sewage and water deflection facilities), however as most of the construction took place in the 1970s and 1980s, there is a lack of data for assessing the effects of damming on the local coastal hydrological balances. There are no recorded examples of significant local disturbances of the hydrological processes in theIonian Sea due to heat or salt pollution from local human activities

One of the major human activities that interfere with the hydrological processes of the marine environment is the burning of fossil fuels, thus increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and the consequent enhancement of the anthropogenic greenhouse effect, resulting to increased temperatures at the surface of the Earth. According to IPCC report increased temperatures and about 30% more drought in the Mediterranean basin are expected. The second human activity interfering with hydrological processes is the alteration of land-sea freshwater exchanges mostly through the construction of dams and use of water in human activities. It has been shown that the construction of dams throughout the Mediterranean is accountable for about 40% of the observed salinity rise (Skliris and Lascaratos, 2004; Skliris et al., 2006), and that estimate could be higher after consideration also of Central and Eastern European rivers outflowing in the Black Sea. This activity, after reaching its peak in the 1970s is now gradually reduced, and the regionally-induced freshwater balance changes are being stabilized. The construction of Suez canal can be included in this activity. The connection to the Red Sea is a salt source for the Mediterranean, however its effects regarding the direct hydrological processes and the saltwater budget of the Mediterranean are minimal, when compared with the river damming. The second human activity that interferes with hydrological processes is the alteration of land-sea freshwater exchanges mostly through the construction of dams and use of water in human activities. It has been shown that the construction of dams throughout the Mediterranean is accountable for about 40% of the observed salinity rise (Skliris and Lascaratos, 2004; Skliris et al., 2006), and that estimate could be higher after consideration also of Central and Eastern European rivers outflowing in the Black Sea. This activity, after reaching its peak in the 1970s is now gradually reduced, and the regionally-induced freshwater balance changes are being stabilized. The construction of Suez canal can be included in this activity. The connection to the Red Sea is a salt source for the Mediterranean, however its effects regarding the direct hydrological processes and the saltwater budget of the Mediterranean are minimal, when compared with the river damming. One last group of activities, capable of playing a local role, is the interference with the land-sea water exchange at local level. River damming, the use of water for cooling coastal powerplants, desalinization plants, urban water sewage facilities can disturb the freshwater, heat and salt balance of a coastal area, depending on the rate of renewal of its water body. Of the three above classes, the major disturbances arise from river damming (and also large sewage and water deflection facilities), however as most of the construction took place in the 1970s and 1980s, there is a lack of data for assessing the effects of damming on the local coastal hydrological balances. There are no recorded examples of significant local disturbances of the hydrological processes in theIonian Sea due to heat or salt pollution from local human activities

• AgricultForestry
• Industry
• NotReported

• AgricultForestry
• Industry
• NotReported

• AgricultForestry
• Industry
• NotReported

• AgricultForestry
• Industry
• NotReported

There definitely exists lack of information, mostly due to the spatially sporadic provision of information, which stalls any effort to produce results relating interference of hydrological processes with physical, chemical or blogical impacts. To this effect we propose a national-wide network of stations to be regularly sampled on the required parameters.

There definitely exists lack of information, mostly due to the spatially sporadic provision of information, which stalls any effort to produce results relating interference of hydrological processes with physical, chemical or blogical impacts. To this effect we propose a national-wide network of stations to be regularly sampled on the required parameters.

There definitely exists lack of information, mostly due to the spatially sporadic provision of information, which stalls any effort to produce results relating interference of hydrological processes with physical, chemical or blogical impacts. To this effect we propose a national-wide network of stations to be regularly sampled on the required parameters.

There definitely exists lack of information, mostly due to the spatially sporadic provision of information, which stalls any effort to produce results relating interference of hydrological processes with physical, chemical or blogical impacts. To this effect we propose a national-wide network of stations to be regularly sampled on the required parameters.

GESOther: Level of altered parameter

D7C2 Adverse effects from permanent alteration of hydrographical conditions (7.2, 7.2.1, 7.2.2)

D7C2 Adverse effects from permanent alteration of hydrographical conditions (7.2, 7.2.1, 7.2.2)

D7C2 Adverse effects from permanent alteration of hydrographical conditions (7.2, 7.2.1, 7.2.2)

LevelPressure

ImpactPressureWaterColumn

ImpactPressureSeabedHabitats

ImpactPressureFunctionalGroup

Hydrological7_1

HydrologicalWaterColumnHabitats7_2

HydrologicalSeabedHabitats7_2

HydrologicalFunctionalGroups7_2

CurrentVelocity, MarineCoast, MarineOceanic, MarineShelf, Mixing, NutrientLevels, OxygenLevels, pH, RedSalinity, ResidenceTime, Salinity, SeaBottomTemperature, SeaSurfaceTemperature, Transparency, Turbidity, Upwelling, VarSalinity

LBathRock, LBathSed, ShallMud, ShallMxdSed, ShallRock, ShallSand, ShelfCoarseSed, ShelfMud, ShelfRock, ShelfSand, UBathRock, UBathSed

FishCoastal, FishDemersal, FishPelagic, MammalsSeals, ReptilesTurtles

Good

Good

NotAssessed

NotAssessed

Unknown_NotAssessed

Unknown_NotAssessed

Unknown_NotAssessed

Unknown_NotAssessed

NotRelevant

NotRelevant

NotRelevant

NotRelevant

We cannot know the trend over the next 12 years due to the fact that the natural decadal variability is much stronger than the mean anthropogenic trend. Furthermore, while the anthropogenic trend is one of increasing temperature and salinity, future projections do noy provide confidence regarding the future stratification of the water column

We cannot know the trend over the next 12 years due to the fact that the natural decadal variability is much stronger than the mean anthropogenic trend. Furthermore, while the anthropogenic trend is one of increasing temperature and salinity, future projections do noy provide confidence regarding the future stratification of the water column

We cannot know the trend over the next 12 years due to the fact that the natural decadal variability is much stronger than the mean anthropogenic trend. Furthermore, while the anthropogenic trend is one of increasing temperature and salinity, future projections do noy provide confidence regarding the future stratification of the water column

We cannot know the trend over the next 12 years due to the fact that the natural decadal variability is much stronger than the mean anthropogenic trend. Furthermore, while the anthropogenic trend is one of increasing temperature and salinity, future projections do noy provide confidence regarding the future stratification of the water column

Since the 1980s the temperature and salinity of the Mediterranean are increasing, and these increases are expected to continue in the twenty-first century. These trends have been attributed to human activities: the temperature increase has been attributed to the –planetary scale– anthropogenic greenhouse effect, while the salinity increase has been attributed both to global and regional scale anthropogenic activities, the latter consisting of damming the major rivers of the Mediterranean and the Black Seas. The above interference is extended throughout the Mediterranean. The current intensity of this interference is low; however, it is considered of great long-term importance. The anthropogenic trends rising from the interference with hydrological processes in the Levantine Sea are those of long-term rising temperature and salinity. However, even these trends are 'hidden' within the natural decadal variability of the system.

The temperature and salinity increasing trends directly impact the local vertical stratification of the water column, and that can modify the overturning circulation of certain regions of the Mediterranean. However, as the Levantine Sea is not a region of intermediate or dense water formation, the temperature and salinity changes recorded (partly attributed to human activities) have not resulted to dramatic biological impacts as in the Aegean. During the Eastern Mediterranean Transient event of the early 1990s, new Aegean Dense Water filled the deeper basin of the Ionian in the vicinity of the eastern Cretan Straits, and thus introduced higher oxygen and low nutrients in the bottom layer. During this process the old Eastern Mediterranean Deep Waters were uplifted to deep-intermediate layers, thus their high nutrient – low oxygen signature moved to shallower layers. From the mid-1990s to mid-2000s the new, Aegean-originated bottom waters minimally progressed toward the east, gradually mixing with the old EMDW water mass. Despite the strong physical and chemical signals of the phenomenon, the biological response was probably insignificant. However, the long-term trend of warming at the surface waters has had a very significant effect, that of providing the grounds for the migration of Lessepsian species colonizing the Mediterranean through the Suez canal.

The gradual tropicalization of the Levantine sea has provided new grounds for Lessepsian fauna now colonizing it, both pelagic and benthic.

As mentioned above, there are significant physical, chemical and biological impacts of the warming and saltying trends of the Med, arising from decadal-scale changes in the overturning circulation. However, their effect on functional groups cannot be assessed due to the sporadic nature of information and the complicity of processes involved. A possible exception may be the tropicalization of the Mediterranean provided the grounds for the colonization of the Levantine by Lessepsian species.

High

Moderate

Non related GES component

Non related GES component

Increasing

Increase

One of the major human activities that interfere with the hydrological processes of the marine environment is the burning of fossil fuels, thus increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and the consequent enhancement of the anthropogenic greenhouse effect, resulting to increased temperatures at the surface of the Earth. According to IPCC report increased temperatures and about 30% more drought in the Mediterranean basin are expected. The second human activity interfering with hydrological processes is the alteration of land-sea freshwater exchanges mostly through the construction of dams and use of water in human activities. It has been shown that the construction of dams throughout the Mediterranean is accountable for about 40% of the observed salinity rise (Skliris and Lascaratos, 2004; Skliris et al., 2006), and that estimate could be higher after consideration also of Central and Eastern European rivers outflowing in the Black Sea. This activity, after reaching its peak in the 1970s is now gradually reduced, and the regionally-induced freshwater balance changes are being stabilized. The construction of Suez canal can be included in this activity. The connection to the Red Sea is a salt source for the Mediterranean, however its effects regarding the direct hydrological processes and the saltwater budget of the Mediterranean are minimal, when compared with the river damming. The second human activity that interferes with hydrological processes is the alteration of land-sea freshwater exchanges mostly through the construction of dams and use of water in human activities. It has been shown that the construction of dams throughout the Mediterranean is accountable for about 40% of the observed salinity rise (Skliris and Lascaratos, 2004; Skliris et al., 2006), and that estimate could be higher after consideration also of Central and Eastern European rivers outflowing in the Black Sea. This activity, after reaching its peak in the 1970s is now gradually reduced, and the regionally-induced freshwater balance changes are being stabilized. The construction of Suez canal can be included in this activity. The connection to the Red Sea is a salt source for the Mediterranean, however its effects regarding the direct hydrological processes and the saltwater budget of the Mediterranean are minimal, when compared with the river damming. One last group of activities, capable of playing a local role, is the interference with the land-sea water exchange at local level. River damming, the use of water for cooling coastal powerplants, desalinization plants, urban water sewage facilities can disturb the freshwater, heat and salt balance of a coastal area, depending on the rate of renewal of its water body. Of the three above classes, the major disturbances arise from river damming (and also large sewage and water deflection facilities), however as most of the construction took place in the 1970s and 1980s, there is a lack of data for assessing the effects of damming on the local coastal hydrological balances. There are no recorded examples of significant local disturbances of the hydrological processes in theIonian Sea due to heat or salt pollution from local human activities

One of the major human activities that interfere with the hydrological processes of the marine environment is the burning of fossil fuels, thus increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and the consequent enhancement of the anthropogenic greenhouse effect, resulting to increased temperatures at the surface of the Earth. According to IPCC report increased temperatures and about 30% more drought in the Mediterranean basin are expected. The second human activity interfering with hydrological processes is the alteration of land-sea freshwater exchanges mostly through the construction of dams and use of water in human activities. It has been shown that the construction of dams throughout the Mediterranean is accountable for about 40% of the observed salinity rise (Skliris and Lascaratos, 2004; Skliris et al., 2006), and that estimate could be higher after consideration also of Central and Eastern European rivers outflowing in the Black Sea. This activity, after reaching its peak in the 1970s is now gradually reduced, and the regionally-induced freshwater balance changes are being stabilized. The construction of Suez canal can be included in this activity. The connection to the Red Sea is a salt source for the Mediterranean, however its effects regarding the direct hydrological processes and the saltwater budget of the Mediterranean are minimal, when compared with the river damming. The second human activity that interferes with hydrological processes is the alteration of land-sea freshwater exchanges mostly through the construction of dams and use of water in human activities. It has been shown that the construction of dams throughout the Mediterranean is accountable for about 40% of the observed salinity rise (Skliris and Lascaratos, 2004; Skliris et al., 2006), and that estimate could be higher after consideration also of Central and Eastern European rivers outflowing in the Black Sea. This activity, after reaching its peak in the 1970s is now gradually reduced, and the regionally-induced freshwater balance changes are being stabilized. The construction of Suez canal can be included in this activity. The connection to the Red Sea is a salt source for the Mediterranean, however its effects regarding the direct hydrological processes and the saltwater budget of the Mediterranean are minimal, when compared with the river damming. One last group of activities, capable of playing a local role, is the interference with the land-sea water exchange at local level. River damming, the use of water for cooling coastal powerplants, desalinization plants, urban water sewage facilities can disturb the freshwater, heat and salt balance of a coastal area, depending on the rate of renewal of its water body. Of the three above classes, the major disturbances arise from river damming (and also large sewage and water deflection facilities), however as most of the construction took place in the 1970s and 1980s, there is a lack of data for assessing the effects of damming on the local coastal hydrological balances. There are no recorded examples of significant local disturbances of the hydrological processes in theIonian Sea due to heat or salt pollution from local human activities

One of the major human activities that interfere with the hydrological processes of the marine environment is the burning of fossil fuels, thus increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and the consequent enhancement of the anthropogenic greenhouse effect, resulting to increased temperatures at the surface of the Earth. According to IPCC report increased temperatures and about 30% more drought in the Mediterranean basin are expected. The second human activity interfering with hydrological processes is the alteration of land-sea freshwater exchanges mostly through the construction of dams and use of water in human activities. It has been shown that the construction of dams throughout the Mediterranean is accountable for about 40% of the observed salinity rise (Skliris and Lascaratos, 2004; Skliris et al., 2006), and that estimate could be higher after consideration also of Central and Eastern European rivers outflowing in the Black Sea. This activity, after reaching its peak in the 1970s is now gradually reduced, and the regionally-induced freshwater balance changes are being stabilized. The construction of Suez canal can be included in this activity. The connection to the Red Sea is a salt source for the Mediterranean, however its effects regarding the direct hydrological processes and the saltwater budget of the Mediterranean are minimal, when compared with the river damming. The second human activity that interferes with hydrological processes is the alteration of land-sea freshwater exchanges mostly through the construction of dams and use of water in human activities. It has been shown that the construction of dams throughout the Mediterranean is accountable for about 40% of the observed salinity rise (Skliris and Lascaratos, 2004; Skliris et al., 2006), and that estimate could be higher after consideration also of Central and Eastern European rivers outflowing in the Black Sea. This activity, after reaching its peak in the 1970s is now gradually reduced, and the regionally-induced freshwater balance changes are being stabilized. The construction of Suez canal can be included in this activity. The connection to the Red Sea is a salt source for the Mediterranean, however its effects regarding the direct hydrological processes and the saltwater budget of the Mediterranean are minimal, when compared with the river damming. One last group of activities, capable of playing a local role, is the interference with the land-sea water exchange at local level. River damming, the use of water for cooling coastal powerplants, desalinization plants, urban water sewage facilities can disturb the freshwater, heat and salt balance of a coastal area, depending on the rate of renewal of its water body. Of the three above classes, the major disturbances arise from river damming (and also large sewage and water deflection facilities), however as most of the construction took place in the 1970s and 1980s, there is a lack of data for assessing the effects of damming on the local coastal hydrological balances. There are no recorded examples of significant local disturbances of the hydrological processes in theIonian Sea due to heat or salt pollution from local human activities

One of the major human activities that interfere with the hydrological processes of the marine environment is the burning of fossil fuels, thus increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and the consequent enhancement of the anthropogenic greenhouse effect, resulting to increased temperatures at the surface of the Earth. According to IPCC report increased temperatures and about 30% more drought in the Mediterranean basin are expected. The second human activity interfering with hydrological processes is the alteration of land-sea freshwater exchanges mostly through the construction of dams and use of water in human activities. It has been shown that the construction of dams throughout the Mediterranean is accountable for about 40% of the observed salinity rise (Skliris and Lascaratos, 2004; Skliris et al., 2006), and that estimate could be higher after consideration also of Central and Eastern European rivers outflowing in the Black Sea. This activity, after reaching its peak in the 1970s is now gradually reduced, and the regionally-induced freshwater balance changes are being stabilized. The construction of Suez canal can be included in this activity. The connection to the Red Sea is a salt source for the Mediterranean, however its effects regarding the direct hydrological processes and the saltwater budget of the Mediterranean are minimal, when compared with the river damming. The second human activity that interferes with hydrological processes is the alteration of land-sea freshwater exchanges mostly through the construction of dams and use of water in human activities. It has been shown that the construction of dams throughout the Mediterranean is accountable for about 40% of the observed salinity rise (Skliris and Lascaratos, 2004; Skliris et al., 2006), and that estimate could be higher after consideration also of Central and Eastern European rivers outflowing in the Black Sea. This activity, after reaching its peak in the 1970s is now gradually reduced, and the regionally-induced freshwater balance changes are being stabilized. The construction of Suez canal can be included in this activity. The connection to the Red Sea is a salt source for the Mediterranean, however its effects regarding the direct hydrological processes and the saltwater budget of the Mediterranean are minimal, when compared with the river damming. One last group of activities, capable of playing a local role, is the interference with the land-sea water exchange at local level. River damming, the use of water for cooling coastal powerplants, desalinization plants, urban water sewage facilities can disturb the freshwater, heat and salt balance of a coastal area, depending on the rate of renewal of its water body. Of the three above classes, the major disturbances arise from river damming (and also large sewage and water deflection facilities), however as most of the construction took place in the 1970s and 1980s, there is a lack of data for assessing the effects of damming on the local coastal hydrological balances. There are no recorded examples of significant local disturbances of the hydrological processes in theIonian Sea due to heat or salt pollution from local human activities

• AgricultForestry
• Industry
• NotReported

• AgricultForestry
• Industry
• NotReported

• AgricultForestry
• Industry
• NotReported

• AgricultForestry
• Industry
• NotReported

There definitely exists lack of information, mostly due to the spatially sporadic provision of information, which stalls any effort to produce results relating interference of hydrological processes with physical, chemical or blogical impacts. To this effect we propose a national-wide network of stations to be regularly sampled on the required parameters.

There definitely exists lack of information, mostly due to the spatially sporadic provision of information, which stalls any effort to produce results relating interference of hydrological processes with physical, chemical or blogical impacts. To this effect we propose a national-wide network of stations to be regularly sampled on the required parameters.

There definitely exists lack of information, mostly due to the spatially sporadic provision of information, which stalls any effort to produce results relating interference of hydrological processes with physical, chemical or blogical impacts. To this effect we propose a national-wide network of stations to be regularly sampled on the required parameters.

There definitely exists lack of information, mostly due to the spatially sporadic provision of information, which stalls any effort to produce results relating interference of hydrological processes with physical, chemical or blogical impacts. To this effect we propose a national-wide network of stations to be regularly sampled on the required parameters.