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Mediterranean Nations Committed to Confronting Climate Emergencies

Ministers at the meeting of the second Union for the Mediterranean. (UfM)
Ministers at the meeting of the second Union for the Mediterranean. (UfM)
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Mediterranean Nations Committed to Confronting Climate Emergencies

Ministers at the meeting of the second Union for the Mediterranean. (UfM)
Ministers at the meeting of the second Union for the Mediterranean. (UfM)

Ministers from the 42 member countries of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) gathered in Cairo on Monday for the 2nd Ministerial Conference on Environment and Climate action held under the co-presidency of Jordan and the European Union (EU).

The ministers agreed on a common agenda to strengthen efforts in the Euro-Mediterranean region to tackle the multiple climate and environmental challenges it faces urgently.

The commitment reflects the highest possible ambition in accelerating the transition towards sustainable, climate-neutral, and green economies.

The conference was chaired by Frans Timmermans, European Commission Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal, and Nabil Masarweh, Jordan's Minister of Environment, attended by Secretary-General of the UfM Secretariat, Nasser Kamel. Egypt was represented by Minister of Environment, Yasmine Fouad.

The second ministerial conference comes at a critical moment for the region, only a few weeks ahead of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) and following a summer dominated by climate and environmental emergencies across the region.

The dire warning calls of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the network of Mediterranean experts on climate change (MedECC) also drew attention to the Mediterranean as one of the world's climate change hotspots.

During the Cairo conference, ministers acknowledged the urgency of taking action, stressing a firm commitment to tackle climate and environmental challenges by fully implementing the Paris Agreement and the Agenda 2030.

The ministers reiterated their commitment to lead by example and reflect the highest possible ambition by accelerating the transition towards fair, resilient, climate-neutral, and resource-efficient economies to limit average global temperature rise to 1.5°C, halt and reverse biodiversity loss and reduce air pollution.

They stressed the importance of including environment and climate action in all sectoral policies, including energy, industry, agriculture, and transportation, while mobilizing and expanding resources to support the green transition.

Investments and sustainable finance featured high on the agenda and the need to step up action on adaptation and reinforce the science-policy nexus.

The ministers emphasized the need to progressively reduce the use of fossil fuels, ensure a just transition and engage all stakeholders in environmental and climate policy-making, as well as the importance of supporting women and youth engagement in building resilience and driving the green transition.

The UfM Secretariat was mandated to support the implementation of the objectives of this declaration and monitor progress through its Environment and Climate working group.

High-level representatives of international financial institutions and UfM senior officials discussed the challenges and opportunities of the green transition in the Mediterranean in an event on investments organized by the EU and the UfM at the margins of the ministerial conference.

The discussion focused on potential trends and tools to accelerate the transition towards the region's clean, fair, and competitive economies.

The conference also saw the UfM hold a joint event with the United Nations Development Program on Biological Diversity, Ecosystem Restoration, and Food Systems. It helped establish the first steps to implement the recommendations outlined in the Declaration.

The importance of these steps was made clear by the latest IUCN reports, which indicate that some 62 million macro-litter items are floating on the surface of the Mediterranean basin.

Timmermans said that the climate crisis is existential for all of humanity and transcends borders and politics, stressing that establishing a sustainable future for all citizens across the Mediterranean is a shared responsibility.

"It is time to act and fulfill the commitments we all made under the Paris agreement. Today we have set a bold and ambitious vision for a clean, competitive, resilient, and inclusive Mediterranean. I hope our joint ambition is an example for other regions to follow."

The EU Commissioner for the Environment Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevicius, noted that the countries of the Mediterranean share a rich natural heritage and a common concern for the effects of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution.

"We now have a renewed commitment to address these challenges together with an ambitious plan of action to protect the environment for future generations. The recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic allows us to build back better and greener together."

Masarweh noted that the Mediterranean region was shown to be one of the biggest climate change hotspots.

He explained that temperature in the area warms 20 percent faster than the global mean temperature, as was indicated by the MedECC report, besides other environmental challenges that the region faces.

Kamel underlined that the Mediterranean Sea has a fragile ecosystem that suffers from different problems, such as biodiversity loss, overfishing, pollution, coastal degradation, and marine litter.

The alarming effects of climate change exacerbate the fragility of this ecosystem.

"The more closely the Euro-Mediterranean community works together, the more funding we will be able to generate and the more effectively we'll be able to use it," he said.

The UfM has been very active in this regard, firstly by treating marine litter as an environmental and economic problem, and most importantly, mobilizing funds targeting key regional operational initiatives to fight climate change.

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Research Reveals Decades-Long Silverpit Crater Triggered by Tsunami 40 Million Years Ago

A massive asteroid struck the North Sea millions of years ago (Getty)
A massive asteroid struck the North Sea millions of years ago (Getty)
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Research Reveals Decades-Long Silverpit Crater Triggered by Tsunami 40 Million Years Ago

A massive asteroid struck the North Sea millions of years ago (Getty)
A massive asteroid struck the North Sea millions of years ago (Getty)

A long-running dispute about the origin of a North Sea crater has finally been settled, as new research finds a massive asteroid hit the water and triggered a towering tsunami millions of years ago.

Scientists have found that the Silverpit Crater – which lies around 700 meters beneath the southern North Sea seabed, roughly 80 miles off the coast of Yorkshire – was formed when an asteroid or comet struck the region roughly 43 to 46 million years ago, sparking a 330 feet tsunami.

Since geologists first identified the formation in 2002, the 3km-wide crater and its surrounding ring of circular faults spanning about 20 km have sparked intense debate, according to The Independent.

But researchers say their new study marks the clearest evidence yet that the structure is one of Earth’s rare impact craters.

This confirmation places it in the same category as well-known structures such as the Chicxulub Crater in Mexico, which is linked to the dinosaur mass extinction.

The team used computer modelling and analyzed newly available seismic imaging and microscopic geological samples taken from beneath the seabed.

Dr. Uisdean Nicholson, a sedimentologist in Heriot-Watt University’s School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society, who led the investigation, said: “New seismic imaging has given us an unprecedented look at the crater.”

He said samples from an oil well in the area also revealed rare ‘shocked’ quartz and feldspar crystals at the same depth as the crater floor.

“We were exceptionally lucky to find these – a real ‘needle-in-a-haystack’ effort. These prove the impact crater hypothesis beyond doubt, because they have a fabric that can only be created by extreme shock pressures,” said Nicholson.

The scientists say these microscopic minerals form only under the extreme pressures generated during asteroid impacts, providing strong confirmation of the event.

Early research proposed that the feature was created by a high-speed asteroid impact. Supporters of that idea pointed to its round shape, central peak, and surrounding concentric faults, which are often seen in known impact craters.

But other scientists suggested different explanations. Some proposed that underground salt movement distorted the rock layers and created the structure.

Others argued that volcanic activity may have caused the seabed to collapse.

In 2009, geologists even voted on the issue. According to a report in the December 2009 issue of Geoscientist magazine, most participants rejected the asteroid impact explanation at the time.

The latest findings, published in the journal Nature Communications and funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), now appear to overturn that conclusion.

Dr. Nicholson said: “Our evidence shows that a 160-meter-wide asteroid hit the seabed at a low angle from the west.”

“Within minutes, it created a 1.5 km high curtain of rock and water that then collapsed into the sea, creating a tsunami over 100 meters high.”

The impact would have produced a violent explosion at the seafloor and sent enormous waves spreading across the region.

Professor Gareth Collins, of Imperial College London, who attended the 2009 debate about the crater’s origin and contributed to the new research, said the researchers have “finally found the silver bullet” to end the debate.

He said: “I always thought that the impact hypothesis was the simplest explanation and most consistent with the observations.”

“It is very rewarding to have finally found the silver bullet. We can now get on with the exciting job of using the amazing new data to learn more about how impacts shape planets below the surface, which is really hard to do on other planets,” Collins added.

Dr. Nicholson also expressed his excitement about using the new findings for further research into asteroids.

“Silverpit is a rare and exceptionally preserved hypervelocity impact crater,” he said.

“These are rare because the Earth is such a dynamic planet – plate tectonics and erosion destroy almost all traces of most of these events.”

Varieties

Naples Museum to Allow Visually Impaired Visitors to Experience Art Through Touch

Giuseppe Sanmartino's sculpture of the Veiled Christ housed in the Sansevero Chapel in Naples, Italy, 10 March 2026. EPA/CIRO FUSCO
Giuseppe Sanmartino's sculpture of the Veiled Christ housed in the Sansevero Chapel in Naples, Italy, 10 March 2026. EPA/CIRO FUSCO
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Naples Museum to Allow Visually Impaired Visitors to Experience Art Through Touch

Giuseppe Sanmartino's sculpture of the Veiled Christ housed in the Sansevero Chapel in Naples, Italy, 10 March 2026. EPA/CIRO FUSCO
Giuseppe Sanmartino's sculpture of the Veiled Christ housed in the Sansevero Chapel in Naples, Italy, 10 March 2026. EPA/CIRO FUSCO

The Sansevero Chapel Museum in Naples will allow dozens of visually impaired visitors to take part in a rare tactile experience, letting them touch celebrated works of art including the Veiled Christ, which is widely regarded as one of the most striking masterpieces in the history of sculpture.

On March 17, the museum will host an initiative called La meraviglia a portata di mano – Wonder within reach – organized in partnership with the Italian Union of the Blind and Visually Impaired of Naples, offering about 80 blind and partially sighted visitors a chance to encounter the marble masterpieces.

According to The Guardian, visitors will be guided through the chapel by guides who are also visually impaired in a program designed to place accessibility at the center of the museum experience.

The protective barrier surrounding the sculptures will be removed, allowing participants, wearing latex gloves, to explore by touch the intricate marble surface of the sculptures including Giuseppe Sanmartino’s Veiled Christ, which depicts Jesus covered by a transparent shroud made from the same block as the statue. The tactile route will also extend to the reliefs at the feet of the sculptures La Pudicizia and Il Disinganno.

Chiara Locovardi, a guide, told the state agency Ansa: “The veil covering Christ is extraordinary. It’s impossible to understand how Sanmartino managed to create it. The veil defies explanation – for those who can see and for those who cannot. When you touch it, you can feel the veins pulsing beneath.”

“This initiative forms part of our wider program to create a cultural space that is inclusive and accessible through dedicated pathways and tools tailored to the different needs of museum visitors,” Maria Alessandra Masucci, the president of the Sansevero Chapel Museum, said.

Varieties

All But 2 of Austria's 96 Glaciers Have Retreated Over Last 2 Years

FILE - The Sulzenauferner Glacier is visible near Innsbruck, Austria, on Sept. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)
FILE - The Sulzenauferner Glacier is visible near Innsbruck, Austria, on Sept. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)
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All But 2 of Austria's 96 Glaciers Have Retreated Over Last 2 Years

FILE - The Sulzenauferner Glacier is visible near Innsbruck, Austria, on Sept. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)
FILE - The Sulzenauferner Glacier is visible near Innsbruck, Austria, on Sept. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)

All but two of Austria’s 96 glaciers have retreated over the last two years, monitors in the Alpine country reported Friday, saying the “dramatic development” highlights the impact of climate change.

The latest report from the Austrian Alpine Club shows the Alpeiner Ferner in the western Tyrol region and Stubacher Sonnblickkees in Salzburg to the east are facing the greatest loss, each with a retreat of more than 100 meters (about 330 feet). The average retreat was more than 20 meters (65 feet).

“The disintegration of the glacier tongue is also progressing at the Pasterze, Austria’s largest glacier, making the consequences of climate change visible,” the club said in the report covering 2024 and 2025.

The report, it added, “confirms once again the long-term trend: Glaciers in Austria continue to shrink significantly in length, area, and volume.”

FILE - The Gaisskarferner Glacier is visible near Innsbruck, Austria, Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, file)

The retreat of glaciers in Europe has vast implications for drinking water, power generation, agriculture, infrastructure, recreational activities, the Alpine landscape and more.

Neighboring Switzerland, which is home to the most glaciers in Europe, has noted a similar retreat in its glaciers in recent years, a trend that has been reported around the world.

Poor weather conditions including low snowfall, warm temperatures including an exceptionally hot June last year — nearly 5 degrees Celsius (9 degrees Fahrenheit) above the average — have contributed to the retreat, The Associated Press quoted the club as saying.

“The glaciers are melting — and with every new report, the urgency grows,” club vice president Nicole Slupetzky said. “It’s no longer a question of whether we can still save the glaciers in their old form; it’s about mitigating the consequences for ourselves.”

Such changes in the Alps should serve as a “wake-up call” for policymakers and the public in its behavior, the club said.

It said the current figure was lower than during the previous two years, but still ranks as the eight-largest retreat in the 135 years of measurements.