Italy's 'Smart Bay' seeks to tackle Mediterranean climate change
CTV
On Italy's Ligurian coast, biologists and environmentalists are working to tackle the effects of climate change in the Mediterranean with help from a so-called 'Smart Bay.'
Marine biologists fear the Mediterranean is becoming hotter and more acidic, which would affect the habitat of many native species and also lead to violent changes in weather systems such as more frequent tornadoes.
The Santa Teresa Smart Bay, in an area on the northwestern coast noted for tourism and diving, is Italy's first underwater "living" laboratory where scientists use aquatic invertebrate animals known as bryozoans and other organisms as live sensors.
Researchers from the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA) and the National Research Council (CNR) chose the small bay as a perfect location to monitor the seawater.
It provides data for the study of extreme weather events that are becoming more frequent in countries such as Italy, Greece, Spain, and France.
