Subjects

HCMR, with Vangelis Papathanasiou as coordinator, initiated SESAME project, one of the biggest programmes for the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, which was funded by the European Union.

The aim of SESAME project was to research the future of our seas, in terms of the climate changes.

For the first time in the history of marine science, these two Seas were considered as a single ecosystem. The research and observation network that was created was beyond the institutes and borders of the countries.

According to the completed models, the condition of the Mediterranean in the 21st century will seemingly have been affected by the “greenhouse effect”, which consequently leads to a progressive rise of the temperature. This can be, in terms of space and time, really crucial for the bio-geographical structure of the biodiversity.  Moreover, in the 21st century, the thermohaline circulation of the Mediterranean will have been retarded, compared to now, especially deeper in the sea, where water is more "stagnant". More exotic species from Suez will probably have been settled and live in our seas; while there will be a rise of the number of the exotic species in the Mediterranean in general.