European Parliament president Martin Schulz said in 2014 that Europe's migration policy "turned the Mediterranean into a graveyard", referring to the number of drowned refugees in the region as a direct result of the policies. In the 20th century, the 1st and 2nd World Wars as well as the Suez Crisis and the Cold War led to a shift of trade routes to the European northern ports, which changed again towards the southern ports through European integration, the activation of the Silk Road and free world trade. With the opening of the lockless Suez Canal in 1869, the flow of trade between Europe and Asia changed fundamentally. As the naval prowess of the European powers increased, they confronted Ottoman expansion in the region when the Battle of Lepanto (1571) damaging the power of the Ottoman Navy. Though the fall of the Crusader states and attempts at banning of trade relations with Muslim states by the Popes temporarily disrupted the trade with the Orient, it however continued. The Fatimids maintained trade relations with the Italian city-states like Amalfi and Genoa before the Crusades, according to the Cairo Geniza documents.
The 10 Deepest Lakes In The United States
- Recently, the countries surrounding the Mediterranean region have been moving closer together in an attempt to protect the region.
- The delicate balance of these ecosystems is increasingly under pressure as human activities continue to encroach upon their habitats.
- Deep water formation in the Mediterranean is triggered by strong winter convection fuelled by intense cold winds like the Bora.
- The historical evolution of climate, vegetation and landscape in southern Europe from prehistoric times to the present is much more complex and underwent various changes.
- These deep valleys are special due to the fact that they were not carved out by surface rivers.
Ancient cultures in Greece, Egypt and Rome and Phoenicia developed along the shores of the Mediterranean region. The Mediterranean is the world’s most important wine-growing region. Although it is very dry during the summer months, farming plays an important role in the region.
Climate change and global warming could raise the sea level of the Mediterranean as much as 60 cm and, thus, flood parts of the Nile Delta or the city of Venice. Environmental problems are a big challenge to the future of the Mediterranean region. The Europeans had a new trade route through the Red Sea to their colonies Asia. However , when Vasco da Gama sailed around Africa during the Age of Exploration the trade route across the Mediterranean to Asia became less important. For hundreds of years the Mediterranean Sea was the main water route.
Tourism
Venetian ships from the 9th century armed themselves to counter the harassment by Arabs while concentrating trade of Asian goods in Venice. However, the Norsemen developed the trade from Norway to the White Sea, while also trading in luxury goods from Spain and the Mediterranean. This, however, had the indirect effect of promoting trade across the Caspian Sea.
Middle Ages and empires
It was part of NASA's Discovery Program and marked the agency’s first return to the Martian surface since the Viking missions in the 1970s. Geographical land use is an article discussing the environmental features on Earth and how humans have adapted the environment to … These issues threaten the biodiversity and ecological balance of the region, prompting efforts to promote sustainable development and conservation.
It is estimated that there are more than 17,000 marine species in the Mediterranean Sea with generally higher marine biodiversity in coastal areas, continental shelves, and decreases with depth. There the development of the intramontane Betic and Rif basins created two roughly parallel marine gateways between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Because it is a near-landlocked body of water in a normally dry climate, the Mediterranean is subject to intensive evaporation and the precipitation of evaporites. Between March and April, spring offers the ideal trade-off between light intensity and nutrient concentrations in surface for a spring bloom to occur. For this reason, the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea is termed "ultraoligotrophic".
The drainage basin encompasses a large number of other countries, the Nile being the longest river ending in the Mediterranean Sea. In addition, Northern Cyprus (de facto state) and two overseas territories of the United Kingdom (Akrotiri and Dhekelia, and Gibraltar) also have coastlines along the Mediterranean Sea. The Mediterranean Sea has an average depth of 1,500 m (4,900 ft) and the deepest recorded point is 5,109 ± 1 m (16,762 ± 3 ft) in the Calypso Deep in the Ionian Sea. The Roman Empire maintained nautical hegemony over the sea for centuries and is the only state to have ever controlled all of its coast. The Mediterranean Sea was an important route for merchants, travellers, and migrants in antiquity, facilitating trade and cultural exchange between various peoples as well as colonisation and conquest.
Bordering Countries
The basins of the Ebro, Po, and Maritsa, are respectively south of the Pyrenees, Alps, and Balkan Mountains, which are the major ranges bordering Southern Europe. The basin of the Rhône is the largest and extends up as far north as the Jura Mountains, encompassing areas even on the north side of the Alps. The basin of the Nile constitutes soho cycle about two-thirds of the Mediterranean drainage basin and encompasses areas as high as the Ruwenzori Mountains. An Azerbaijani official described the sea as "a burial ground … where people die".
Geography and Climate
Subsequently, a shift of this active extensional deformation led to the opening of the Tyrrenian basin. The Mediterranean also hosts wide extensional basins and migrating tectonic arcs, in response to its land-locked configuration. Geologic data suggests that there are at least six main areas where the Africa and Eurasian plates collide, resulting in volcanism, mountain building, and land submergence. Studies conducted since the 1970s, however, have suggested that the present Mediterranean seafloor is not part of the older (200 million years) Tethys floor. The Mediterranean Sea has an average depth of 4,920 feet (1,500 meters) and the deepest recorded point is 17,280 feet (5,267 meters) in the Calypso Deep in the Ionian Sea. Many of these smaller seas feature in local myth and folklore and derive their names from these associations.
The extreme north of the Adriatic has the lowest surface temperatures; the mean temperature in February falls to 41°F (5°C) in the Gulf of Trieste, and ice occasionally forms in winter. The Gulf of Sidra, off the coast of Libya, has the highest water temperatures of about 88 °F (31°C) in August, followed by the Gulf of Iskenderun with 86°F (30°C). The quantity of fresh water flowing into the Mediterranean from rivers is only one-third of the amount lost through evaporation. The Mediterranean is characterized by its imposing deep blue color, especially around the Greek islands. In Turkish, it is Akdeniz, "the white sea." In Arabic, it is Al-Baħr Al-Abyad Al-Muttawasit (البحر الأبيض المتوسط), "the middle white sea."
According to more recent seismic and microfossil research, the seafloor was never entirely dry. Sediment cores drilled in 1970 and 1975 led to theories that about 6 million years ago, the Mediterranean was around 3,000 metres (10,000 ft) below the current sea level and included arid deserts blanketed with evaporite salts. Over the course of the last 44 million years, the continental plates of Africa and Eurasia have converged and receded, resulting in the current tectonically active basin and its surrounding mountain chains. However, since the late 20th century, research using the theory of seafloor spreading has indicated that most of the current Mediterranean seafloor is not a portion of the Tethys sea floor. The Mediterranean Sea has numerous underwater geological features formed by the subduction of the African Plate beneath the Eurasian Plate. As a consequence, the river discharges of the Rhône and Po are similar to that of the Nile, despite the latter having a much larger basin.
