In a statement released on Monday, the IbizaPreservation Foundation revealed that the sea temperature in this area exceeded 28 degrees for 11 consecutive days between 4 and 14 August 2024. This is 'the threshold at which the mortality rate of Posidonia oceanica skyrockets'.
This information was obtained from temperature sensors installed by the environmental organisation GEN-GOB and funded by IbizaPreservation.
According to these records, the highest temperature ever recorded in the area was 29.26 degrees, which was reached on 13 August at 4 p.m. This level of temperature was maintained for several consecutive days, causing prolonged stress to the marine plant.
"The fact that temperatures exceed 28 degrees for several days in the middle of summer is worrying because it directly compromises the health of the Posidonia," explained the Ibiza Preservation Foundation's Sustainability Observatory.
GEN-GOB has pointed out that the increase in sea temperature is not an isolated phenomenon, but a consequence of climate change, and has recalled that the Paris Agreement establishes the need to halve emissions compared to 1990 levels in order to limit global warming to an increase of 1.5°C above pre-industrial values.
'However, we already exceeded those thresholds last year, and the trend is very worrying,' they warned.
Similarly, the IbizaPreservation Sustainability Observatory stated that, given the inability to control the current sea temperature, urgent action is required to address the other factors endangering Posidonia.