Mediterranean Sea response to climate change in an ensemble of twenty first century scenarios

The Mediterranean climate is expected to become warmer and drier during the twenty-first century. Mediterranean Sea response to climate change could be modulated by the choice of the socio-economic scenario as well as the choice of the boundary conditions mainly the Atlantic hydrography, the river runoff and the atmospheric fluxes. To assess and quantify the sensitivity of the Mediterranean Sea to the twenty-first century climate change, a set of numerical experiments was carried out with the regional ocean model NEMOMED8 set up for the Mediterranean Sea. The model is forced by air–sea fluxes derived from the regional climate model ARPEGE-Climate at a 50-km horizontal resolution. Historical simulations representing the climate of the period 1961–2000 were run to obtain a reference state. From this baseline, various sensitivity experiments were performed for the period 2001–2099, following different socio-economic scenarios based on the Special Report on Emissions Scenarios. For the A2 scenario, the main three boundary forcings (river runoff, near-Atlantic water hydrography and air–sea fluxes) were changed one by one to better identify the role of each forcing in the way the ocean responds to climate change. In two additional simulations (A1B, B1), the scenario is changed, allowing to quantify the socio-economic uncertainty. Our 6-member scenario simulations display a warming and saltening of the Mediterranean. For the 2070–2099 period compared to 1961–1990, the sea surface temperature anomalies range from +1.73 to +2.97 °C and the SSS anomalies spread from +0.48 to +0.89. In most of the cases, we found that the future Mediterranean thermohaline circulation (MTHC) tends to reach a situation similar to the eastern Mediterranean Transient. However, this response is varying depending on the chosen boundary conditions and socio-economic scenarios. Our numerical experiments suggest that the choice of the near-Atlantic surface water evolution, which is very uncertain in General Circulation Models, has the largest impact on the evolution of the Mediterranean water masses, followed by the choice of the socio-economic scenario. The choice of river runoff and atmospheric forcing both have a smaller impact. The state of the MTHC during the historical period is found to have a large influence on the transfer of surface anomalies toward depth. Besides, subsurface currents are substantially modified in the Ionian Sea and the Balearic region. Finally, the response of thermosteric sea level ranges from +34 to +49 cm (2070–2099 vs. 1961–1990), mainly depending on the Atlantic forcing

Fixed and drifting buoys around the national Spanish waters

Joint Technical Commission for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology (JCOMM) Marine Technical Conference, The Technical Conference (TECO) Toward an Integrated Met-ocean Monitoring, Forecasting and Services System, 25-29 October 2017, Geneva, SwitzerlandImproving the knowledge of the ocean and seas surrounding the Iberian Peninsula and Balearic and Canary islands is an objective of the Spanish oceanography. For that purpose, a number of fixed and drifting floats have been established in the last 25 years. Data buoys measure sea surface temperature and salinity, ocean current velocity, air temperature, humidity, wave characteristic and wind velocity across seas and ocean. The objective is increase the quantity, quality, coverage and timeliness of atmospheric and oceanographic data. These observations are used immediately to improve forecast and therefore increase marine safety. The main group of fixed buoys is formed by the Puertos del Estado deep and shallow buoy networks, but a series of well instrumented new platforms has been established in later times. The RAIA Project (Xunta de Galicia), PLOCAN, SOCIB, IEO, Euskalmet-AZTI, ICM and UTM (CSIC) and University and Polytechnic of Barcelona have completed the Observing System. Most of the buoys are transmitting data by GTS for using in atmospheric and ocean prediction models. Multidisciplinary sensors as Dissolved Oxygen, Fluorescence Chlorophyll or pCO2 has been mounted in the buoys and calibration/validation procedures has been developed for improve data quality. Antifouling systems recently developed have also been included and quality of the optical sensors measurements has improved. Drifting floats has increase its number and importance, from Argo floats to traditional deriving ones improving the Spanish contribution to IOC and WWO and JCOMM. Spain is member of EuroArgo ERIC. SOCIB and IEO are the main contributors. Also multidisciplinary work has been done associated to Argo buoys. BGQ ARGO incorporate O2 sensor. ICM, SMOS Barcelona Expert Center, and SOCIB are the main contributors to the drifting buoys group. Main objectives are improving Technological development as well as data management. Tropical and Southern Atlantic Ocean are the main studying areasPeer Reviewe

CMEMS downscaled circulation operational forecast system

This document describes the numerical modelling work done in task 5.2 needed to implement OSPA

MMP-8 Deficiency Increases TLR/RAGE Ligands S100A8 and S100A9 and Exacerbates Lung Inflammation during Endotoxemia

Matrix metalloproteinase-8, released mainly from neutrophils, is a critical regulator of the inflammatory response by its ability to cleave multiple mediators. Herein, we report the results of a model of endotoxemia after intraperitoneal LPS injection in mice lacking MMP-8 and their wildtype counterparts. Control, saline-treated animals showed no differences between genotypes. However, there was an increased lung inflammatory response, with a prominent neutrophilic infiltration in mutant animals after LPS treatment. Using a proteomic approach, we identify alarmins S100A8 and S100A9 as two of the main differences between genotypes. Mice lacking MMP-8 showed a significant increase in these two molecules in lung homogenates, but not in spleen and serum. Mice lacking MMP-8 also showed an increase in MIP-1α levels and a marked activation of the non-canonical NF-κB pathway, with no differences in CXC-chemokines such as MIP-2 or LIX. These results show that MMP-8 can modulate the levels of S100A8 and S100A9 and its absence promotes the lung inflammatory response during endotoxemia

COSMO: Corrientes Marinas y Seguridad en el Medio Marino

Ejercicio internacional de salvamento y lucha contra la contaminación marina "Polex 24-17" organizado por la Dirección General de Marina Mercante y Salvamento Marítimo del 14 al 16 de junio de 2017 en SantanderDisponer en tiempo real de información sobre las corrientes oceánicas es clave para algunos de los servicios encomendados a la Sociedad de Salvamento y Seguridad Marítima y al Cuerpo Nacional de Policía (CNP). Un alto porcentaje de las emergencias de búsqueda de personas y náufragos, y de los incidentes de contaminación gestionados por Salvamento Marítimo, tienen lugar en zonas cercanas a la costa. Asimismo, el 71% de los casos de restos humanos no identificados (CSI) acontecidos en España durante el período 1968-2015 se da en zonas costeras. El proyecto COSMO busca mejorar la eficacia de las operaciones de búsqueda y de predicción de derivas, y mejorar la proporción de identificaciones positivas acelerando la resolución de casos de recuperación de restos humanosProyecto cofinanciado por el Ministerio de Economía Industria y Competitividad y Fondos FEDER de la UE (COSMO-CTM2016-79474-R, UE)Peer Reviewe

Coastal Sea Level Monitoring in the Mediterranean and Black Seas

Spanning over a century, a traditional way to monitor sea level variability by tide gauges is – in combination with modern observational techniques like satellite altimetry – an inevitable ingredient in sea level studies over the climate scales and in coastal seas. The development of the instrumentation, remote data acquisition, processing and archiving in last decades allowed for extending the applications towards a variety of users and coastal hazard managers. The Mediterranean and Black50 seas are an example for such a transition – while having a long tradition for sea level observations with several records spanning over a century, the number of modern tide gauge stations are growing rapidly, with data available both in real-time and as a research product at different time resolutions. As no comprehensive survey of the tide gauge networks has been carried out recently in these basins, the aim of this paper is to map the existing coastal sea level monitoring infrastructures and the respective data availability. The survey encompasses description of major monitoring networks in the Mediterranean and Black55 seas and their characteristics, including the type of sea level sensors, measuring resolutions, data availability and existence of ancillary measurements, altogether collecting information about 236 presently operational tide gauge stations. The availability of the Mediterranean and Black seas sea level data in the global and European sea level repositories has been also screened and classified following their sampling interval and level of quality-check, pointing to the necessity of harmonization of the data available with different metadata and series at different repositories. Finally, an assessment of the networks’ capabilities60 for their usage in different sea level applications has been done, with recommendations that might mitigate the bottlenecks and assure further development of the networks in a coordinated way, being that more necessary in the era of the human-induced climate changes and the sea level ris

Copernicus Ocean State Report, issue 6

The 6th issue of the Copernicus OSR incorporates a large range of topics for the blue, white and green ocean for all European regional seas, and the global ocean over 1993–2020 with a special focus on 2020

Mortality and pulmonary complications in patients undergoing surgery with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection: an international cohort study

Background: The impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on postoperative recovery needs to be understood to inform clinical decision making during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This study reports 30-day mortality and pulmonary complication rates in patients with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods: This international, multicentre, cohort study at 235 hospitals in 24 countries included all patients undergoing surgery who had SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed within 7 days before or 30 days after surgery. The primary outcome measure was 30-day postoperative mortality and was assessed in all enrolled patients. The main secondary outcome measure was pulmonary complications, defined as pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, or unexpected postoperative ventilation. Findings: This analysis includes 1128 patients who had surgery between Jan 1 and March 31, 2020, of whom 835 (74·0%) had emergency surgery and 280 (24·8%) had elective surgery. SARS-CoV-2 infection was confirmed preoperatively in 294 (26·1%) patients. 30-day mortality was 23·8% (268 of 1128). Pulmonary complications occurred in 577 (51·2%) of 1128 patients; 30-day mortality in these patients was 38·0% (219 of 577), accounting for 81·7% (219 of 268) of all deaths. In adjusted analyses, 30-day mortality was associated with male sex (odds ratio 1·75 [95% CI 1·28–2·40], p\textless0·0001), age 70 years or older versus younger than 70 years (2·30 [1·65–3·22], p\textless0·0001), American Society of Anesthesiologists grades 3–5 versus grades 1–2 (2·35 [1·57–3·53], p\textless0·0001), malignant versus benign or obstetric diagnosis (1·55 [1·01–2·39], p=0·046), emergency versus elective surgery (1·67 [1·06–2·63], p=0·026), and major versus minor surgery (1·52 [1·01–2·31], p=0·047). Interpretation: Postoperative pulmonary complications occur in half of patients with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection and are associated with high mortality. Thresholds for surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic should be higher than during normal practice, particularly in men aged 70 years and older. Consideration should be given for postponing non-urgent procedures and promoting non-operative treatment to delay or avoid the need for surgery. Funding: National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland, Bowel and Cancer Research, Bowel Disease Research Foundation, Association of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons, British Association of Surgical Oncology, British Gynaecological Cancer Society, European Society of Coloproctology, NIHR Academy, Sarcoma UK, Vascular Society for Great Britain and Ireland, and Yorkshire Cancer Research

Evaluation of operational ocean forecasting systems from the perspective of the users and the experts

The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) has an Ocean Decade Implementation Plan (UNESCO-IOC, 2021) that states seven outcomes required for the ocean we want, with the fourth outcome being “A predicted ocean where society understands and can respond to changing ocean conditions.” To facilitate the achievement of this goal, the IOC has endorsed Mercator Ocean International to implement the Decade Collaborative Center (DCC) for OceanPrediction (https://www.mercator-ocean.eu/oceanprediction/, last access: 21 August 2023), which is a cross-cutting structure that will work to develop global-scale collaboration between Decade Actions related to ocean prediction