Baltic Sea On Brink Of Big Changes - Up To 4C Water Temperature Increase By 2100 - Deutsche Welle

Global warming is causing the air and water temperatures in the Baltic Sea region to heat up more intensely than other parts of the world, according to a recent study.

Water temperatures could increase by 2 degrees to 4 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees to 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2100 if current rates continued. Air temperatures could rise even more along Germany's Baltic coast, according to a study released this week.

Researchers at the Institute for Coastal Research (IfK) in Geesthacht, Germany, near Hamburg, analyzed temperatures readings from the past 100 years for the entire Baltic region to draw conclusions for the study. The study showed that average temperatures in basin regions had risen 0.85 degrees C over the past century -- that is 0.1 degree C faster than general global air temperatures.

Calling the study the Baltic Sea's equivalent to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's report issued in December, Hans von Storch, the IfK's director, said average air temperatures on the Scandinavian side of the sea were rising even faster than on the German and Polish side.

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