Mediterranean climate

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of the characteristics of the climate over the Mediterranean region and of the processes that determine its evolution. It describes how numerical models are used for simulating the climate at the regional Mediterranean scale, the heat, and moisture balance at Mediterranean regional scale, their relation to surface climate. The evolution of the regional climate conditions is described since the times when the Mediterranean present morphology emerged as a remnant of the Tethys Ocean. Finally, the impacts of the ongoing anthropogenic climate change are described.