They found negative net precipitation rates of −1.1 and of −3.5 mm day−1 for the WMB and EMB, respectively. Mariotti et al. (2002) estimated different evaporation and precipitation rates using different datasets, and found that the LBH589 Mediterranean Sea had negative net precipitation rates ranging from −1.3 to −1.9 mm day−1, most markedly over EMB. The present calculations (see Table 5) and those presented in these three earlier studies thus differ only slightly. The water balance of the Mediterranean Sea was controlled

by net flow through the Gibraltar Strait and Sicily Channel, net precipitation rates, and freshwater input. The heat balance of the Mediterranean Sea was controlled by heat loss from the water surface, solar radiation into the sea, and heat flow through the Gibraltar Strait and Sicily Channel. Both heat loss and solar radiation display significant (insignificant) trends over the EMB (EMB). This agrees with the previous findings of Shaltout and Omstedt (2012). The annual net heat gain from the WMB (−13 W m−2) was balanced by the heat flow through the Gibraltar Strait and Sicily Channel. The annual net heat loss from the EMB (11 W m−2) was balanced

SB203580 by the heat flow through the Sicily Channel. This research was undertaken when Dr. Mohamed Shaltout was a visiting scientist at the Ocean Climate Group, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. The work is a contribution to the GEWEX/BALTEX phase II and the newly formed programme “Baltic Earth-Earth System Science for the Baltic Sea region” and the HyMex program. “
“Toxic algal blooms are of a particular concern in eutrophic aquatic Parvulin ecosystems, where natural or anthropogenically induced nutrient enrichment leads to enhanced algae and cyanobacteria biomass (Sutcliffe and Jones, 1992). About 300 microalgae species were reported as forming so-called algal blooms. Nearly one fourth of these species have a potential to produce

toxic compounds (Hallegraeff et al., 2003). Some of algal toxins may bioaccumulate in aquatic organisms and be transferred through a food chain, reaching critically high concentrations at higher trophic levels (Cazenave et al., 2005, Ferrão-Filho and Kozlowski-Suzuki, 2011, Landsberg, 2002 and Rhodes et al., 2001). Due to the wide toxicological effects of these compounds, including neurotoxicity, hepatoxicity, cytotoxicity and dermatoxicity, there is a risk of health hazard for humans, domestic animals and wildlife related to the toxic algal blooms in aquatic ecosystems (Carmichael, 2001, Kujbida et al., 2006 and Van Dolah, 2000). Among the toxins produced by cyanobacteria microcystins (hepatotoxins) are probably the most hazardous ones in terms of impact on human health (Carmichael, 1994, Chorus and Bartram, 1999 and Funari and Testai, 2008). Microcystins (MC) are very stable (Jones and Orr, 1994 and Tsuji et al., 1994), not destroyed by the common water treatment methods (Keijola et al.