THE POLLUTION OF BALTIC SEA

NATALIA JUCHNOWICZ AGATA LISZEWSKA

BALTIC SEA • Baltic Sea is enclosed by: Scandinavia, Finland,

Poland, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia and Sweden.

• It’s about 1,600 km long, an average of 193 km wide and an average of 55 meters deep.

• The surface area is about 349, 644 km2

THREATS TO THE BALTIC SEA Over the past 100 years, the Baltic Sea

has degraded quite dramatically. Human pressures such as over-fishing, pollution and now increasingly the effects of climate change are altering the ecological balance and depleting renewable resources beyond safe biological limits. These pressures jeopardize the future use of the Baltic’s vast array of ‘ecosystem goods and services’, provided by nature for free.

POLLUTION• Baltic Sea is one of the most polluted seas in

the world• Factors that influence the pollution of the

Baltic Sea are mainly: o construction of drainage ditcheso intensive industrializationo development and creation of new townso the surrounding sewage and waste

EUTROPHICATION Eutrophication is a process of enriching water reservoirs in natural nutrients mainly phosphates and nitrogen. It’s a really dangerous process which causes the emergence of anaerobic organisms and the formation of mud that leads to a slow shallowing of the tank, transforming it in a peat bog, swamp, etc., after the complete disappearance of the lake.

EUTROPHICATION OF BALTIC SEA

• Nitrogen and phosphorus coming from land in the Baltic Sea basin, as well as areas outside it.

• It was found that the Baltic Sea during the twentieth century changed its character from oligotrophic (with transparent waters) in strongly eutrophic.

SINKED CHEMICAL WEAPONS• After World War II, the Allies discovered in the Third Reich

thousands of tons of chemical weapons, among others, decks of mustard gas (sulfur mustard), tabun and other poisons, including a arsenic.

• Allied Coalition decided to sink these charges in the sea depths. Experts do not agree on the amount of sunken substances, but it is estimated that only rested at the bottom of the Baltic Sea approx. 60 thousand. tons of chemicals. Some experts estimate that only one-sixth of the released substances can totally destroy life on the Baltic Sea, for 100 years!

PREVENTIVE MEASURES In 1973 the Gdansk Convention on Fishing

and Conservation of the living resources of the Baltic Sea and the Belts was signed. In 1974, seven of the Baltic States signed the International Convention for the Baltic second in Helsinki.

Still, the Baltic Sea remains one of the most polluted seas in the world.

SOURCES • en.wikipedia.org• wwf.panda.org• www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

DICTIONARYsurface area- powierzchniarenewable resources- zasoby odnawialneeopardize-narazivast array – szeroki wachlarzecosystem goods and services- towary i usługi ekosystemówdrainage ditches- rowy melioracyjnesewage- ściekieutrophication- eutrofizacjanatural nutrients- naturalne składniki odżywczephosphates - fosforanynitrogen- tlenanaerobic organisms- organizmy beztlenowepeat bog- torfowiskoswamp- bagnooligotrophic- oligotroficzneeutrophic- eutroficznedepths- otchłań

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