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The summer of 2024 witnessed record-high sea surface temperatures (SST) across the Aegean, Ionian, and Cretan Seas (AICS), following unprecedented air heatwaves over the sea under a long-term warming trend of 0.46 °C/decade for the mean atmospheric temperature (1982–2024). The respective mean SST trend for the same period is even steeper, increasing by 0.59 °C/decade. With mean summer surface waters surpassing 28 °C, particularly in the Ionian Sea, the southern Cretan, and northern Aegean basins, this summer marked the warmest ocean conditions over the past four decades. Despite a relatively lower number of marine heatwaves (MHWs) compared to previous warm years, the duration and cumulative intensity of these events in 2024 were the highest on record, reaching nearly twice the levels seen in 2018, which was the warmest until now. Intense MHWs were recorded, especially in the northern Aegean, with extensive biological consequences to ecosystems like the Thermaikos Gulf, a recognized MHW hotspot. The strong downward atmospheric heat fluxes in the summer of 2024, following an interannual increasing four-decade trend, contributed to the extreme warming of the water masses together with other met-ocean conditions such as lateral exchanges and vertical processes. The high temperatures were not limited to the surface but extended to depths of 50 m in some regions, indicating a deep and widespread warming of the upper ocean. Mechanisms typically mitigating SST rises, such as the Black Sea water (BSW) inflow and coastal upwelling over the eastern Aegean Sea, were weaker in 2024. Cooler water influx from the BSW decreased, as indicated by satellite-derived chlorophyll-a concentrations, while upwelled waters from depths of 40 to 80 m at certain areas showed elevated temperatures, likely limiting their cooling effects on the surface. Prolonged warming of ocean waters in a semi-enclosed basin such as the Mediterranean and its marginal sea sub-basins can have substantial physical, biological, and socioeconomic impacts on the AICS. This research highlights the urgent need for targeted monitoring and mitigation strategies to address the growing impact of MHWs in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a recently developed Operational Forecast Platform (OFP) for prevailing sea conditions at very important ports worldwide (Accu-Waves). The OFP produces reliable high-resolution predictions of wave characteristics in and around ocean ports. Its goal is to support safer navigation, predict possible port downtime, assist vessel approaching, enhance management of towing services, and bolster secure ship maneuvering in busy ports around the globe. Accu-Waves OFP is based on integrated, high-resolution wave modelling over the continental shelf and in coastal areas that incorporates data from global- and regional-scale, open-sea wave and ocean circulation forecasts as boundary conditions. The coupling, nesting, calibration, and implementation of the models are reported and discussed in this paper, concerning 50 selected areas near and inside significant port basins. The detailed setup of the Accu-Waves OFP and its sub-system services is also provided regarding three-day forecasts at three-hourly intervals. The validation of the wave forecast system against in situ observations from wave buoys in coastal areas of the USA, Belgium, and Spain, as well as other model predictions by established OFPs, seems very promising, with performance skill scores ranging from adequate to very good. An exceptional case of stormy seas under severe marine weather conditions with very high wave maxima (>10 m) in the port of Algeciras is further discussed, confirming the good performance of the Accu-Waves OFP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the most fast-evolving and most pervasive technological advancements of the last decade. Driven by IoT's promise for an interconnected world for all people, through a shared Internet-based infrastructure, more and more businesses expand their activities to embrace, competitively, this new concept. More importantly, the ubiquitous, highly granular, and of increasing interconnection and computational capabilities nature of the IoT fabric creates a unique ecosystem for developing powerful, intelligent applications not limited to simply gathering and analyzing environmental and people data. This potential combines the IoT's physical capabilities with the achievements of the more mature discipline of Artificial Intelligence (AI). However, there is still a large number of businesses with no clear plans of investing in the IoT-plus-AI potential, citing multiple obstacles mainly related to the difficulty of understanding, adapting, and developing advanced AI techniques. Our goal is to show that advanced AI functionalities can, now, be easily implemented and operated through existing IoT platforms, by developing an intelligent, remote, surveillance application based on IBM's Cloud and Watson platforms as well as the Raspberry Zero W low-cost IoT device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]