Impacts of Coastal Breezes on the Environment and Human Life: The Case of Mallorca (Western Mediterranean)

Abstract

The sea breeze is an atmospheric phenomenon that can appear in many coastal areas of the world. On the island of Mallorca, in the center of the Western Mediterranean, the coastal breezes present prototypical characteristics. They are so consistent that their effectiveness allows for easy scientific verification. The sea breeze system is defined in Mallorca by its multi-directional spatial behavior and its unifying nature. As a result of the physical insularity of the land, coastal breezes have multiple orientations and act in opposite directions. This means that they can operate simultaneously on different coasts, and penetrate inland areas, where they typically converge, eliminating slope winds and forming convective chimneys, creating storms. In this article, we characterize and label the coastal breezes of Mallorca, and we verify their influence in the places where this phenomenon appears. A broader understanding of them reveals their remarkable influence on all spheres of life and human settlement: climatic, ecological, biological and geomorphological, but also cultural, territorial, economic and social.