Reconstructing palaeo-environmental conditions in the Baltic: A multi-proxy comparison from IODP Site M0059 (Little Belt)

Science.gov (United States)

Kotthoff, Ulrich; Andrén, Thomas; Bauersachs, Thorsten; Fanget, Anne-Sophie; Granoszewski, Wojciech; Groeneveld, Jeroen; Krupinski, Nadine; Peyron, Odile; Stepanova, Anna; Cotterill, Carol

2015-04-01

Some of the largest marine environmental impacts from ongoing global climate change are occurring in continental shelf seas and enclosed basins, including severe oxygen depletion, intensifying stratification, and increasing temperatures. In order to predict future changes in water mass conditions, it is essential to reconstruct how these conditions have changed in the past. The brackish Baltic Sea is one of the largest semi-enclosed basins worldwide, and hence provides a unique opportunity to analyse past changes. IODP Expedition 347 recovered a unique set of long sediment cores from the Baltic Sea Basin which allow new high-resolution reconstructions. The application of existing and development of new proxies in such a setting is complicated, as environmental changes often occur on much faster time scales with much larger variations. Therefore, we present a comparison of commonly used proxies to reconstruct palaeoecosystems, -temperatures, and -salinity from IODP Site M0059 in the Little Belt. The age model for Site M0059 is based on 14C dating and biostratigraphic correlation with neighbouring terrestrial pollen records. The aim of our study is to reconstruct the development of the terrestrial and marine ecosystems in the research area and the related environmental conditions, and to identify potential limitations for specific proxies. Pollen is used as proxy for vegetation development in the hinterland of the southern Baltic Sea and as land/air-temperature proxies. By comparison with dinoflagellate cysts and green algae remains from the same samples, a direct land-sea comparison is provided. The application of the modern analogues technique to pollen assemblages has previously yielded precise results for late Pleistocene and Holocene datasets including specific information on seasonality, but pollen-based reconstructions for Northern Europe may be hampered by plant migration effects. Chironomid remains are used where possible as indicators for surface water

Practical Applicability and Preliminary Results of the Baltic Environmental Satellite Remote Sensing System (Satbałtyk

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ostrowska Mirosława

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The SatBałtyk (Satellite Monitoring of the Baltic Sea Environment project is being realized in Poland by the SatBałtyk Scientific Consortium, specifically appointed for this purpose, which associates four scientific institutions: the Institute of Oceanology PAN in Sopot - coordinator of the project, the University of Gdańsk (Institute of Oceanography, the Pomeranian Academy in Słupsk (Institute of Physics and the University of Szczecin (Institute of Marine Sciences. The project is aiming to prepare a technical infrastructure and set in motion operational procedures for the satellite monitoring of the Baltic Sea ecosystem. The main sources of input data for this system will be the results of systematic observations by metrological and environmental satellites such as TIROS N/NOAA, MSG (currently Meteosat 10, EOS/AQUA and Sentinel -1, 2, 3 (in the future. The system will deliver on a routine basis the variety of structural and functional properties of this sea, based on data provided by relevant satellites and supported by hydro-biological models. Among them: the solar radiation influx to the sea’s waters in various spectral intervals, energy balances of the short- and long-wave radiation at the Baltic Sea surface and in the upper layers of the atmosphere over the Baltic, sea surface temperature distribution, dynamic states of the water surface, concentrations of chlorophyll a and other phytoplankton pigments in the Baltic waters, spatial distributions of algal blooms, the occurrence of coastal upwelling events, and the characteristics of primary production of organic matter and photosynthetically released oxygen in the water and many others. The structure of the system and preliminary results will be presented.

Baltic Sea ice and environmental and societal implications from the comparative analysis of the Bay of Bothnia and the Gulf of Riga

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Élise Lépy

2012-12-01

Full Text Available This article contributes to many studies on sea ice often carried out by geophysicists and rarely by geographers. Thus, it aims to understand climatic and marine processes of ice formation and break-up of littoral waters and coastal sea, and their environmental, economic and societal consequences in the Baltic Sea. The interest of this research lies in the comparative analysis of two regions: the Bay of Bothnia and the Gulf of Riga. These two case studies are politically, economically and culturally different and help to understand the diversity of reactions and adaptations to the human management of the natural constraint imposed by sea ice phenomena. By using a systemic approach, quite common when studying geographical issues of nature and societies, the work has contributed to a better knowledge of the natural environment of Baltic Sea ice showing a significant interannual variability and a spatial internal diversity of sea ice conditions in the Baltic Sea. It also raises the questions of the environmental determinism which is rejected by the remarkable adaptability of coastal population. Finally, the socio-economic implications of historical changes of sea ice features are emphasized showing that future Baltic Sea ice conditions should be carefully considered when talking about global evolution.

Metal pollutants and radionuclides in the Baltic Sea - an overview

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Piotr Szefer

2002-06-01

Full Text Available This overview presents in detail the state of knowledge of the abilities of various components of the Baltic Sea environment to accumulate trace elements and radionuclides. Particular components of the Baltic ecosystem (abiotic and biotic are considered as potential monitors of pollutants. The use of seaweeds, e.g. Fucus vesiculosus or Zostera marina is recommended, also molluscs, e.g. Mytilus edulis, for biomonitoring surveys of metal pollutants and radionuclides in the Baltic Sea. However, several requirements need to be met if results are to be reliable. Since metal levels and radionuclide activities in the growing tips of F. vesiculosus reflect exclusively the levels of their dissolved species in the ambient seawater, this alga is very useful for monitoring dissolved species of metal pollutants and radioisotopes in the Baltic ecosystem. In contrast, M. edulis, a filter feeder is an appropriate tool for monitoring trace elements occurring in both chemical forms, i.e. dissolved and suspended species. Therefore, full information on the bioavailability and toxicity of heavy metals (depending on their chemical speciation as pollutants of the Baltic Sea can be obtained if at least two biomonitoring organisms are applied simultaneously, e.g. F. vesiculosus and M. edulis. Moreover, the data matrix can be interpreted more accurately if not only trace element but also macroelement concentrations (Ca, Mg, Na, K in these two representatives of Baltic phyto- and zoobenthos are taken into consideration; this point requires special attention. Two coastal species of fish, i.e. Zoarces viviparus and Perca fluviatilis, are good biomonitors of metallic contaminants, so their use as sentinels is recommended. The budgets of chemical elements and the ecological status of the Baltic Sea are presented. Several "black spots", e.g. large estuaries and seaport towns, heavily polluted by trace elements, are identified in the Baltic Sea and other enclosed seas such the

Osnovnye jekologicheskie problemy Baltijskogo morja i puti ih reshenija [The main environmental problems of the Baltic Sea and the ways to solve them

OpenAIRE

Mosin Oleg

2011-01-01

The Baltic Sea is a unique ecological system, an integral part of the global ecological system, which is in urgent need of protection from destructive anthropogenic impact stemming from the production and consumption of nuclear energy and artificial radionuclides, agriculture, oil and oil product transportation, and sewage and solid waste treatment. The article outlines the main environmental problems of the Baltic Seas and the ways to solve them.

Osnovnye jekologicheskie problemy Baltijskogo morja i puti ih reshenija [The main environmental problems of the Baltic Sea and the ways to solve them

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mosin Oleg

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The Baltic Sea is a unique ecological system, an integral part of the global ecological system, which is in urgent need of protection from destructive anthropogenic impact stemming from the production and consumption of nuclear energy and artificial radionuclides, agriculture, oil and oil product transportation, and sewage and solid waste treatment. The article outlines the main environmental problems of the Baltic Seas and the ways to solve them.

Cold War and the environment: the role of Finland in international environmental politics in the Baltic Sea region.

Science.gov (United States)

Räsänen, Tuomas; Laakkonen, Simo

2007-04-01

The Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area signed in 1974 in Helsinki is probably the most important environmental agreement consummated in the Baltic Sea region. This article is the first study that explores the history of this agreement, also known as the Helsinki Convention, by using primary archival sources. The principal sources are the archives of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. We examine the role of Finland in the process that led to the signing of the Helsinki Convention from the perspective of international politics. The study focuses primarily on Finnish, Swedish, and Soviet state-level parties from the end of the 1960s to 1974. We show that Cold War politics affected in several ways negotiations and contents of the Helsinki Convention. We also argue that the Soviet Union used the emerging international environmental issues as a new tool of power politics.

Multi-Layered Stratification in the Baltic Sea: Insight from a Modeling Study with Reference to Environmental Conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bijan Dargahi

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The hydrodynamic and transport characteristics of the Baltic Sea in the period 2000–2009 were studied using a fully calibrated and validated 3D hydrodynamic model with a horizontal resolution of 4.8 km. This study provided new insight into the type and dynamics of vertical structure in the Baltic Sea, not considered in previous studies. Thermal and salinity stratification are both addressed, with a focus on the structural properties of the layers. The detection of cooler regions (dicothermal within the layer structure is an important finding. The detailed investigation of thermal stratification for a 10-year period (i.e., 2000–2009 revealed some new features. A multilayered structure that contains several thermocline and dicothermal layers was identified from this study. Statistical analysis of the simulation results made it possible to derive the mean thermal stratification properties, expressed as mean temperatures and the normalized layer thicknesses. The three-layered model proposed by previous investigators appears to be valid only during the winter periods; for other periods, a multi-layered structure with more than five layers has been identified during this investigation. This study provides detailed insight into thermal and salinity stratification in the Baltic Sea during a recent decade that can be used as a basis for diverse environmental assessments. It extends previous studies on stratification in the Baltic Sea regarding both the extent and the nature of stratification.

Metals, Metalloids and Radionuclides in the Baltic Sea Ecosystem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szefer, P.

2002-01-01

The state of knowledge of the distribution, bioavailability, biomagnification, discrimination, fate and sources of chemical pollutants (metals, metalloids, radionuclides and nutrients) in all compartments (atmosphere, water, deposits, biota) of the Baltic environment is presented. Particular components of the Baltic ecosystem are considered as potential monitors of pollutants. Budgets of chemical elements and the ecological status of the Baltic Sea in the past, present and future are presented. Estimates of health risks to man in respect to some toxic metals and radionuclides in fish and seafood are briefly discussed. The content of the book makes possible the identification of gaps in our environmental knowledge of the Baltic Sea, with certain sections establishing possible priorities, key areas or strategies for future research

Baltic Earth - Earth System Science for the Baltic Sea Region

Science.gov (United States)

Meier, Markus; Rutgersson, Anna; Lehmann, Andreas; Reckermann, Marcus

2014-05-01

The Baltic Sea region, defined as its river catchment basin, spans different climate and population zones, from a temperate, highly populated, industrialized south with intensive agriculture to a boreal, rural north. It encompasses most of the Scandinavian Peninsula in the west; most of Finland and parts of Russia, Belarus, and the Baltic states in the east; and Poland and small parts of Germany and Denmark in the south. The region represents an old cultural landscape, and the Baltic Sea itself is among the most studied sea areas of the world. Baltic Earth is the new Earth system research network for the Baltic Sea region. It is the successor to BALTEX, which was terminated in June 2013 after 20 years and two successful phases. Baltic Earth stands for the vision to achieve an improved Earth system understanding of the Baltic Sea region. This means that the research disciplines of BALTEX continue to be relevant, i.e. atmospheric and climate sciences, hydrology, oceanography and biogeochemistry, but a more holistic view of the Earth system encompassing processes in the atmosphere, on land and in the sea as well as in the anthroposphere shall gain in importance in Baltic Earth. Specific grand research challenges have been formulated, representing interdisciplinary research questions to be tackled in the coming years. A major means will be scientific assessments of particular research topics by expert groups, similar to the BACC approach, which shall help to identify knowledge gaps and develop research strategies. Preliminary grand challenges and topics for which Working Groups have been installed include: • Salinity dynamics in the Baltic Sea • Land-Sea biogeochemical feedbacks in the Baltic Sea region • Natural hazards and extreme events in the Baltic Sea region • Understanding sea level dynamics in the Baltic Sea • Understanding regional variability of water and energy exchange • Utility of Regional Climate Models • Assessment of Scenario Simulations

How will ocean acidification affect Baltic sea ecosystems? an assessment of plausible impacts on key functional groups.

Science.gov (United States)

Havenhand, Jonathan N

2012-09-01

Increasing partial pressure of atmospheric CO₂ is causing ocean pH to fall-a process known as 'ocean acidification'. Scenario modeling suggests that ocean acidification in the Baltic Sea may cause a ≤ 3 times increase in acidity (reduction of 0.2-0.4 pH units) by the year 2100. The responses of most Baltic Sea organisms to ocean acidification are poorly understood. Available data suggest that most species and ecologically important groups in the Baltic Sea food web (phytoplankton, zooplankton, macrozoobenthos, cod and sprat) will be robust to the expected changes in pH. These conclusions come from (mostly) single-species and single-factor studies. Determining the emergent effects of ocean acidification on the ecosystem from such studies is problematic, yet very few studies have used multiple stressors and/or multiple trophic levels. There is an urgent need for more data from Baltic Sea populations, particularly from environmentally diverse regions and from controlled mesocosm experiments. In the absence of such information it is difficult to envision the likely effects of future ocean acidification on Baltic Sea species and ecosystems.

Using data storage tags to link otolith macrostructure in Baltic cod Gadus morhua with environmental conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hüssy, Karin; Nielsen, Birgitte; Mosegaard, Henrik

2009-01-01

of a strontium chloride solution. Based on environmental conditions experienced, fish were classified into different behavioural types: non-reproducing 'non-spawner', and 'spawner' undertaking spawning migrations. Otolith opacity, an indicator of otolith and fish somatic growth and condition, was examined...... in relation to these environmental drivers. Temperature was the only environmental variable with a significant effect, overlaying a strong size-related effect. The temperature effect was not uniform across behavioural types and spawning periods. Opacity showed a negative correlation with temperature......We examined otolith opacity of Baltic cod in relation to environmental conditions in order to evaluate the formation mechanisms of seasonal patterns used in age determination. Adult fish were tagged with data storage tags (DSTs) and a permanent mark was induced in the otoliths by injection...

Baltic Nuclear workshop. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wahlberg, L.G.

2001-05-01

Proceedings of the NKS/BOK-1.6 workshop on crisis communication 'Baltic Nuclear', held in Stockholm March 19 -20, 2001, with participants from the nuclear power plants and nuclear authorities in the Baltic Sea region. The main content of the workshop was founded on the principle of 'learning by doing'. The participants were therefore practically trained in how to handle a crisis from an information and communication point of view. Added to that there were three different lectures. (au)

Bio-engineering in the Baltic Sea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zandersen, Marianne

2011-01-01

Bio-engineering in the Baltic Sea – value of water quality improvements & risk perceptions Dr. Marianne Zandersen1 Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus University Abstract The Baltic Sea is heavily eutrofied and the trend has gone from bad to worse. The hypoxic zone has increased about 4...... of the water column to the bottom waters/deepwater. The expected effects include a slowing down of the sediment release from the bottom and improvement of the possibilities for aerobic bacterial decomposition and over time for the establishment of fauna. The projects test a bio-engineered approach to speeding...

Stable lead (Pb) isotopes and concentrations - A useful independent dating tool for Baltic Sea sediments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zillén, L.; Lenz, C.; Jilbert, T.

2012-01-01

The prehistory of the Baltic Sea has for a long time suffered from imprecise dating, due to the large uncertainties associated with bulk radiocarbon dating of Baltic Seasediments. To constrain the timing of environmental changes in the Baltic Sea it is critical to apply new dating approaches. This

Use of bioenergy in the Baltic Sea region. Conference proceedings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barz, M.; Ahlhaus, M. (eds.)

2006-07-01

The actual situation in our world can shortly be characterized by growing population and increasing energy demand, mainly covered by fossil fuels. This results in environmental as well as climate change problems. Renewable energies offer many opportunities to overcome these problems - they can provide heat and electricity as well as automotive fuels in environmentally friendly systems and thus contribute to lower the fossil fuels dependency. Biomass as the oldest renewable energy of mankind is still playing a dominant role as an energy carrier in some African and Asian regions, where biofuels are still used in traditional ways - mainly for cooking. On the other hand biomass has a huge potential to become a more important energy resource even in industrialized countries. All over the world the opportunities of biomass are accepted and biomass has become a common term in politics resulting in new strategic analyses, political documents, legislative actions and funding programs. A lot of modern and new high-tech solutions for bioenergy systems are already developed and others are under research. Aims of the actual developments are new bioenergy systems on the basis of regional biomass potentials in rural regions. The Baltic Sea Region offers a high potential to produce biofuels for different applications to fit the growing demand of heat, electricity and fuels. In combination with its industry and engineering skills the Baltic Sea Region is predestinated as a nucleus for further development and demonstration of advanced bioenergy solutions. In the result of the conference ''Contribution of Agriculture to Energy Production'', held in Tallinn, Estonia in October 2005 representatives from policy, economy and science identified a high potential and demand for bioenergy solutions and realized the necessity of establishment of an international network (Baltic Bioenergy Net - BaBEt) for information and know-how transfer between the Baltic States to foster

Use of bioenergy in the Baltic Sea region. Conference proceedings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barz, M; Ahlhaus, M [eds.

2006-07-01

The actual situation in our world can shortly be characterized by growing population and increasing energy demand, mainly covered by fossil fuels. This results in environmental as well as climate change problems. Renewable energies offer many opportunities to overcome these problems - they can provide heat and electricity as well as automotive fuels in environmentally friendly systems and thus contribute to lower the fossil fuels dependency. Biomass as the oldest renewable energy of mankind is still playing a dominant role as an energy carrier in some African and Asian regions, where biofuels are still used in traditional ways - mainly for cooking. On the other hand biomass has a huge potential to become a more important energy resource even in industrialized countries. All over the world the opportunities of biomass are accepted and biomass has become a common term in politics resulting in new strategic analyses, political documents, legislative actions and funding programs. A lot of modern and new high-tech solutions for bioenergy systems are already developed and others are under research. Aims of the actual developments are new bioenergy systems on the basis of regional biomass potentials in rural regions. The Baltic Sea Region offers a high potential to produce biofuels for different applications to fit the growing demand of heat, electricity and fuels. In combination with its industry and engineering skills the Baltic Sea Region is predestinated as a nucleus for further development and demonstration of advanced bioenergy solutions. In the result of the conference ''Contribution of Agriculture to Energy Production'', held in Tallinn, Estonia in October 2005 representatives from policy, economy and science identified a high potential and demand for bioenergy solutions and realized the necessity of establishment of an international network (Baltic Bioenergy Net - BaBEt) for information and know-how transfer between the Baltic States to foster the energetic use

Sustainable energy in Baltic States

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klevas, Valentinas; Streimikiene, Dalia; Grikstaite, Ramute

2007-01-01

Integration of New Member States to the European Union has created a new situation in the frame of implementation of the Lisbon strategy and EU Sustainable Development. The closure of Ignalina NPP is the biggest challenge to the energy sector development of the Baltic States. The Baltic States have quite limited own energy resources and in the Accession agreement with the EU Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have verified their targets to increase the share of electricity produced from renewable energy sources (RES-E) by the year 2010. A wider use of renewable energy and increase of energy efficiency can make a valuable contribution to meeting the targets of sustainable development. The article presents a detailed overview of the present policies and measures implemented in the Baltic States, aiming to support the use of RES and the increase of energy efficiency. The review of possibilities to use the EU Structural Funds (SF) for the implementation of sustainable energy projects in the Baltic States was performed.The use of regional social-economic-environmental indicators is the main key to integrate sustainable energy development at the program deployment level. The indicators to be used should describe the contribution of energy programs to the sustainable development, medium- and long-term trends and inter-relationship between them and the typical energy indicators (saved toe, improved energy efficiency, percentage of RES). Municipalities may play a considerable role by promoting sustainable energy since local authorities are fulfilling their functions in the energy sector via a number of roles. The Netherlands' example shows that municipalities may act as facilitators by implementing national environmental policy and increasing energy efficiency in an integral part of these activities. The guidelines for Lithuanian local sustainable energy development using the SF co-financing have been presented

Reconstructing Holocene palaeo-environmental conditions in the Baltic: A multi-proxy comparison from the Little Belt (IODP Expedition 347, Site M0059)

Science.gov (United States)

Kotthoff, Ulrich; Andrén, Elinor; Andrén, Thomas; Ash, Jeanine; Bauersachs, Thorsten; Fanget, Anne-Sophie; Granoszewski, Wojciech; Groeneveld, Jeroen; Krupinski, Nadine; Peyron, Odile; Slomp, Caroline; Stepanova, Anna; Warnock, Jonathan; van Helmond, Niels; Expedition 347 Science Party

2016-04-01

Some of the largest marine environmental impacts from ongoing global climate change are occurring in continental shelf seas and enclosed basins, including severe oxygen depletion, intensifying stratification, and increasing temperatures. In order to predict future changes in water mass conditions, it is essential to reconstruct how these conditions have changed in the past against the background of climate changes. The brackish Baltic Sea is one of the largest semi-enclosed basins worldwide, and its sediment records provide a unique opportunity to analyse palaeo-environmental and climate change in central and northern Europe. IODP Expedition 347 recovered an exceptional set of sediment cores from the Baltic Sea which allow high-resolution reconstructions in unprecedented quality. We present a comparison of commonly-used proxies to reconstruct palaeoecosystems, -temperatures, and -salinity from IODP Site M0059 in the Little Belt over the past ˜8000 years. Our aim is to reconstruct the development of the terrestrial and marine ecosystems in the research area and the related environmental conditions, and to identify potential limitations of individual proxies. The age model for Site M0059 is based on 14Cdating, biostratigraphic correlation with neighbouring terrestrial pollen records, and sediment stratigraphy. Sedimentary organic carbon content and the bulk elemental composition have been measured, and can be used to determine the depositional environment and degree of oxygen depletion (e.g., Mo, Corg/Ptot). Pollen is used as proxy for vegetation development in the hinterland of the southern Baltic Sea and as a land/air-temperature proxy. Comparison with dinoflagellate cysts, insect remains, and green algae remains from the same samples provides a direct land-sea comparison. The application of the modern analogues technique to pollen assemblages has previously yielded precise results for late Pleistocene and Holocene datasets, including specific information on

Baltic Grid for e-Science Development in Baltic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ilmars, S.; Olgerts, B.

2007-01-01

Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania as new members of European Union now are involved in e- Science projects. The Baltic Grid (BG) project is a first step to infrastructure development for e-Science grid computing. Together with the universities of Baltic States some universities and organisations of neighbouring countries are involved in BG project to disseminate their experience and management skills. This paper presents achievements and experiences of BG project in e-infrastructure development in Baltic States and in Latvia and Riga Technical University, in particular. (Author)

On the international cooperation of North-West Russia in the field of innovations in the Baltic

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Baranova Yulia

2012-12-01

Full Text Available This article focuses on the cooperation between the constituent entities of the Northwestern Federal District of the Russian Federation and the Baltic countries (Finland, Estonia, and Norway in the field of innovations at national and regional levels, as well as at the level of corporate cooperation. The author reviews successful implementation of innovation projects within cross-border and transnational cooperation programmes. The most significant projects focus on the development of information and communications technologies in healthcare, the development of networks uniting innovation centres in the Baltic Sea region, and the transnational network of business incubators in the Baltic Sea region. The author identifies promising areas of cooperation between North-West Russia, Finland, Norway, and Estonia in the field of innovations, including telecommunications, information and, space; biological, environmental and nanotechnologies; software, medicine, education, culture, energy efficiency and ecological construction, as well as the development of creative industries. The article pays attention to large-scale national projects, such as “St. Petersburg Corridor — Two Model Open Innovation Platform” and “Partnership in commercialization of Russian innovations”.

Ecological hypotheses for a historical reconstruction of upper trophic level biomass in the Baltic Sea and Skagerrak

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

MacKenzie, Brian; Alheit, J.; Conley, D.J.

2002-01-01

- documented long-term fisheries in this region are the herring (Clupea harengus) fisheries near Bohuslan, western Sweden, and in the Oresund. These fisheries have been important since at least the 1200s and appear to be partly climatically driven. However, in the rest of the Baltic, information about......Fish and marine mammal populations in the Baltic Sea and Skagerrak have undergone major fluctuations over the past five centuries. We summarize how these fluctuations may have depended on various forms of predation (e.g., cannibalism, fishing, hunting) and environmental processes. The best...... fisheries for herring and other fish species is rare until after 1900. During the 20th century, while the Baltic underwent eutrophication, the biomass and landings of three fish species (cod (Gadus morhua), herring, and sprat (Sprattus sprattus)) all increased, whereas the biomass of marine mammals (grey...

Oil pollution in the Baltic Sea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kostianoy, Andrey G.; Lavrova, Olga Yu.

2014-01-01

This thorough review is based on observational satellite, airborne and in-situ data, scientific literature and technical reports, as well as the substantial experience of the authors, who hail from several Baltic Sea countries. They pay special attention to national practices, HELCOM and EMSA CleanSeaNet activities in oil pollution monitoring, and show different applications of the Seatrack Web model for oil spill drift prediction and the identification of illegal polluters, as well as for environmental risk assessment. Furthermore, some of the results on satellite monitoring of the Nord Stream gas pipeline construction in the Gulf of Finland are presented. This volume addresses the needs of specialists working in different fields of marine, environmental, and remote sensing sciences. It is a useful handbook on oil pollution for international and governmental agencies, as well as for policy makers who plan and manage oil and gas projects, the construction of ports and terminals, shipping, fishery, recreation, and tourist activities in the Baltic Sea.

Seabed geodiversity in a glaciated shelf area, the Baltic Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Kaskela, Anu Marii; Kotilainen, Aarno Tapio

2017-10-01

Geodiversity describes the heterogeneity of the physical terrain. We have performed basin-wide geodiversity analysis on a glaciated epicontinental seabed to assess geodiversity measures and patterns, locate areas with high geodiversity, and draw conclusions on contributing processes. Geodiversity quantification is a rather new topic and is mainly practiced in land areas. We applied geodiversity methods developed for terrestrial studies to a seabed environment. Three geodiversity parameters, including the richness, patchiness, and geodiversity index, of the Baltic Sea were assessed in a GIS environment based on broad-scale datasets on seabed substrates, structures, and bedrock. A set of environmental and geological variables, which were considered to reflect geological processes under seabed conditions, were compared with the geodiversity to identify some of its drivers. We observed differences in the geodiversity levels of the Baltic subbasins, which are mainly due to basement type/bedrock, roughness, shore density, and glacier-derived processes. The geodiversity of the Baltic Sea generally increases from South to North and from open-sea to high-shore density areas (archipelagos). Crystalline bedrock areas provide more diverse seabed environments than sedimentary rock areas. The analysis helps to inform scientists, marine spatial planners, and managers about abiotic conservation values, the dynamics of the seabed environment, and potential areas with elevated biodiversity.

Concept development for an environmental impact assessment for off-shore wind parks in the Baltic States. Project November 2007 - October 2009. Final report. Advisory assistance programme for environmental protection in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fammler, Heidrun; Kuris, Merle [Baltic Environmental Forum, Riga (Latvia)

2010-12-15

This is the final report of the project ''Concept development for an environmental impact assessment for off-shore wind parks in the Baltic States'', which was co-funded by the German Environmental Agency (project No 380 01 173). The main outcomes of the project are: - The ''Guidelines for the investigation of the impacts of offshore wind farms on the marine environment in the Baltic States'' developed by the Baltic Environmental Forum and German consultant Dr. Jan Kube in consultation with experts from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The guidelines give an overview on potential negative impacts of offshore wind farms on the marine environment and general EIA and monitoring requirements as well as give detailed guidance on methodology for relevant field investigations. - The background paper ''Legal frame for the use of offshore wind energy in Germany'' prepared by RA'in Dr. Ursula Prall (April 2009) - 3 international workshops on different aspects related to establishment of offshore wind farms and assessment of their environmental impacts. (orig.)

Tolerance and potential for adaptation of a Baltic Sea rockweed under predicted climate change conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Rugiu, Luca; Manninen, Iita; Rothäusler, Eva; Jormalainen, Veijo

2018-03-01

Climate change is threating species' persistence worldwide. To predict species responses to climate change we need information not just on their environmental tolerance but also on its adaptive potential. We tested how the foundation species of rocky littoral habitats, Fucus vesiculosus, responds to combined hyposalinity and warming projected to the Baltic Sea by 2070-2099. We quantified responses of replicated populations originating from the entrance, central, and marginal Baltic regions. Using replicated individuals, we tested for the presence of within-population tolerance variation. Future conditions hampered growth and survival of the central and marginal populations whereas the entrance populations fared well. Further, both the among- and within-population variation in responses to climate change indicated existence of genetic variation in tolerance. Such standing genetic variation provides the raw material necessary for adaptation to a changing environment, which may eventually ensure the persistence of the species in the inner Baltic Sea. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Environmental changes in the central Baltic Sea during the past 1000 years: inferences from sedimentary records, hydrography and climate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jan Bartholdy

2008-03-01

Full Text Available Short sediment cores from the eastern Gotland Basin were investigated using a multi-proxy approach in order to reconstruct the environmental conditions of the area during the past 1000 years. Sediment data and facies were discussed in relation to hydrographic features (salinity, oxygen and climate change. During the medieval warm period (MWP, from about 900 to 1250 AD, the hydrographic and environmental conditions were similar to those of the present time (modern warm period, since about 1850: a temporally stable halocline, caused by regular saline water inflows from the North Sea, prevents vertical mixing and leads to bottom water anoxia and the deposition of laminated, organic-rich sapropels. During the period from about 1250 to 1850, referred to as the cold phase (including the Little Ice Age, the environmental conditions of the central Baltic Sea were distinctly different: the lower salinity, resulting from reduced North Sea water inflows, allowed vertical convection of the water column and long-term stable ventilation of the sea bed (oxic stage. Both the productivity of the planktonic ecosystem as well as the preservation of organic matter in the sediments improved during the warm periods. The anthropogenic impact can be identified within the recent laminated sequence by a temporal reconstruction of pollutant deposition. Our findings imply a climate-change driven shift in the environmental conditions and the ecosystem of the Baltic from the north to the south and back to the north.

The electricity markets around the Baltic Sea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-12-01

A thorough description of the electric power markets in the countries surrounding the Baltic sea is given in this book. Environmental problems and regulations and nuclear power are surveyed. Factors that may affect an expanded trade of electricity between the countries are analyzed

Analysis of the Validity of Environmental Kuznets Curve for the Baltic States

Science.gov (United States)

Lapinskienė, Giedrė; Tvaronavičienė, Manuela; Vaitkus, Pranas

2013-12-01

The paper analyses a traditional Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) relationship between greenhouse gases (GHG) and gross domestic product (GDP), extending the research to include some additional factors, such as environmental tax, research and development expenditure, implicit tax rate on energy, primary production of coal and lignite, energy intensity of the economy taken from the Eurostat database. The EKC indicates that, at the early stages of economic growth, pollution increases with the growing use of resources, but when a certain level of income per capita is reached, the trend reverses so that, at a higher development stage, further economic growth leads to the improvement of the environment. In the first part of the research, the validity of the reduced EKC for the Baltic region for the period 1995-2008 is determined. In the second part, the impact of selected factors is statistically tested. In both cases, the standard cubic equation is used because it is believed that this model is the most accurate for the development stage of this region. The research results may be useful for climate change policy design.

Managing dredged material in the coastal zone of the Baltic Sea.

Science.gov (United States)

Staniszewska, Marta; Boniecka, Helena

2017-01-01

This article deals with the legal and practical recommendations for the management of dredged material in the riparian countries of the Baltic Sea. The recommendations are contained in three conventions: LC, 2000. London Convention (1972), Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea area (Helsinki Convention) (1992), the OSPAR Convention (1972). Different approaches to evaluating the contamination level of dredge spoils, used by the Baltic Sea riparian countries, have been characterized. The differences in those approaches manifest themselves by various concentration limits for contaminants, which form a basis for the classification of dredged material as either contaminated or non-contaminated, and thus determine how the spoils will be processed further. Based on the collected information about the concentration limits for contaminants of surface sediments in the coastal ports, it was pointed out that it is necessary to conduct routine monitoring of heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, tributyltin, and petroleum hydrocarbons in dredged sediments in all the Baltic Sea states. On the other hand, the monitoring of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/furans, organochlorine, and organophosphoric pesticides is only needed in locations that are suspected of historical or being the local contamination sources. Due to significant economic limitations of chemical determinations, it is important to consider a simple screening test of sediment that would say whether sediment may be "contaminated" and qualifies for more detailed and costly chemical research. It may be typical basic physical-chemical analysis of sediments or ecotoxicological classification of sediments.Despite environmentally friendly tendencies, the practical application of dredged material within the Baltic Sea area is very limited. Dredged material is most frequently stored at the specifically designated sites. From among the practical uses of

The baltic states' energy system

OpenAIRE

Nikitaravičius, Martynas

2006-01-01

THE BALTIC STATES’ ENERGY SYSTEM SUMMARY The goal of paper – the comparative analysis of Baltic states‘ (i.e. of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia) energy systems in 1990-2004. The main causes that affected the development of Baltic states’ energetics are indicated in this work. By the method of statistical analysis, the comparative advantages of Baltic states‘ energetics are detected. Moreover, the main trends of further development of integration of Baltic states ‘ energetics into the energetics o...

Environmental effects on recruitment and implications for biological reference points of Eastern Baltic cod (Gadus morhua)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Köster, Fritz; Vinther, Morten; MacKenzie, Brian

2009-01-01

The decline of the Eastern Baltic cod (Gadus morhua) stock from highest to lowest stock levels on record throughout the 1980s and early 1990s was caused by a combination of recruitment failure and increasing fishing pressure at declining stock sizes. The processes driving the reproductive success...... mortality or the limit biomass reference point is indicated. However, an accepted methodology to determine these reference points in situations of changing stock productivity or system carrying capacity does not exist. Environmental conditions affecting recruitment matter not only for the determination...

Fisheries management responses to climate change in the Baltic Sea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thøgersen, Thomas Talund; Hoff, Ayoe; Frost, Hans S.

2015-01-01

The long term management plan for cod in the eastern Baltic Sea was introduced in 2007 to ensure the full reproductive capacity of cod and an economically viable fishing industry. If these goals are to be fulfilled under changing environmental conditions, a readjustment of the current management ...... scenarios in which the economic consequences of different management objectives for the fishing fleets are assessed through a dynamic multi-species and multi-fleet bio-economic assessment model that include both species interactions and climate change....... plan may be needed. Therefore, this paper investigates the economic impacts of managing the cod, sprat and herring stocks in the eastern Baltic Sea, given on-going climate change, which is known to affect cod recruitment negatively. It is shown that climate change may have severe biological......The long term management plan for cod in the eastern Baltic Sea was introduced in 2007 to ensure the full reproductive capacity of cod and an economically viable fishing industry. If these goals are to be fulfilled under changing environmental conditions, a readjustment of the current management...

Baltic Nuclear workshop. Final report[Crisis communication

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wahlberg, L.G

2001-05-01

Proceedings of the NKS/BOK-1.6 workshop on crisis communication 'Baltic Nuclear', held in Stockholm March 19 -20, 2001, with participants from the nuclear power plants and nuclear authorities in the Baltic Sea region. The main content of the workshop was founded on the principle of 'learning by doing'. The participants were therefore practically trained in how to handle a crisis from an information and communication point of view. Added to that there were three different lectures. (au)

Quantifying environmental heterogeneity : habitat size necessary for successful development of cod Gadus morhua eggs in the Baltic Sea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

MacKenzie, Brian; Hinrichsen, H.H.; Plikshs, M.

2000-01-01

) of reproductive volumes among the areas to identify spatial differences. The results of 2 independent volume-estimation methods are comparable, indicating that highly significant differences exist among the sites, and that the westernmost spawning ground, Bornholm Basin, has on average the highest reproductive...... volume and the lowest variability among the 4 sites. These findings may be useful in evaluating how spatial and temporal variability in environmental conditions affect egg hatching success and possibly recruitment in the Baltic stock....

Power Sector Reform in the Baltic States

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2002-08-01

The Swedish Energy Agency is active in different ways to support and promote an environmentally friendly development of the energy sector in the Baltic Sea Region. The Agency is of the opinion that it is of greatest importance to use the market forces in the work to introduce a more rational use of both production resources and the electricity network installations that in a longer perspective contribute to a more efficient and environmentally adapted electricity system in the Baltic Sea Region. In the present report it is fairly evident that in recent years certain important progress has been made in the work on integration of the electricity markets of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. However, it also points out that important measures remains to be implemented. The report puts focus on areas that may need further studies or widened studies that include more countries in the Baltic Sea Region. One of the aims of the report is to form a basis also when it comes to evaluate the needs to replace electricity production that will be phased out when the two nuclear reactors in the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant will be closed down. What possibilities are there to use alternative energy sources that will not increase the emissions of green house gases and what possibilities will there be to implement such projects as climate projects in line with the mechanism of Joint Implementation under the Kyoto Protocol? The report also touches upon such aspects. The development of the electricity market in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania has been in the focus ever since these countries reached independence from the former Soviet Union. In later years thus certain important steps to establish a common and joint electricity markets has been achieved. The development is very rapid - from three separate markets dominated by the three national power monopolies to a more or less open market allowing for trade with electricity over the borders. To start with it will be possible for greater

Power Sector Reform in the Baltic States

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2002-08-01

The Swedish Energy Agency is active in different ways to support and promote an environmentally friendly development of the energy sector in the Baltic Sea Region. The Agency is of the opinion that it is of greatest importance to use the market forces in the work to introduce a more rational use of both production resources and the electricity network installations that in a longer perspective contribute to a more efficient and environmentally adapted electricity system in the Baltic Sea Region. In the present report it is fairly evident that in recent years certain important progress has been made in the work on integration of the electricity markets of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. However, it also points out that important measures remains to be implemented. The report puts focus on areas that may need further studies or widened studies that include more countries in the Baltic Sea Region. One of the aims of the report is to form a basis also when it comes to evaluate the needs to replace electricity production that will be phased out when the two nuclear reactors in the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant will be closed down. What possibilities are there to use alternative energy sources that will not increase the emissions of green house gases and what possibilities will there be to implement such projects as climate projects in line with the mechanism of Joint Implementation under the Kyoto Protocol? The report also touches upon such aspects. The development of the electricity market in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania has been in the focus ever since these countries reached independence from the former Soviet Union. In later years thus certain important steps to establish a common and joint electricity markets has been achieved. The development is very rapid - from three separate markets dominated by the three national power monopolies to a more or less open market allowing for trade with electricity over the borders. To start with it will be possible for greater

Scaling the Baltic Sea environment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Henrik Gutzon

2008-01-01

of this development, this article suggests that environmental politics critically depend on the delineation of relatively bounded spaces that identify and situate particular environmental concerns as spatial objects for politics. These spaces are not simply determined by ‘nature' or some environmental......The Baltic Sea environment has since the early 1970s passed through several phases of spatial objectification in which the ostensibly well-defined semi-enclosed sea has been framed and reframed as a geographical object for intergovernmental environmental politics. Based on a historical analysis......-scientific logic, but should rather be seen as temporal outcomes of scale framing processes, processes that are accentuated by contemporary conceptions of the environment (or nature) in terms of multi-scalar ecosystems. This has implications for how an environmental concern is perceived and politically addressed....

Countries of the Baltic Region in the Global Culinary Space

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rakhmanov A. B.

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Globalisation is creating a global culinary space where culinary traditions of different countries interact and compete. The author sets out to explore characteristic features of the culinary space of nine Baltic States as part of the global culinary space. The author uses empirical data on the number of restaurants serving different national cuisines in the main cities of the region. The Baltic culinary space incorporates the world’s leading cuisines (Italian, Japanese, Chinese, etc. as well as the local cuisines of the BSR countries. The world’s leading cuisines prove to be more influential in the region than the local ones. Some countries of the Baltic Sea region (Russia, Poland, Sweden, Latvia, and Denmark have culinary sovereignty, since their residents prefer national cuisines. In some other countries of the region (Finland, Estonia, and Lithuania, the public favours the world’s leading cuisines — Italian, Japanese and American — over the local ones. The non-capital Baltic cities of Poland and Germany, as well as St. Petersburg, display a greater sense of culinary patriotism than Warsaw, Berlin, and Moscow respectively. This article attempts to explore the features of the Baltic culinary space. The author considers the environmental and socio- historical factors key determinants of the countries’ cuisines.

Baltic Sea: Radionuclides

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Sven Poul; Lüning, Maria; Ilus, Erkki

2011-01-01

The most significant source of anthropogenic radioactivity in the Baltic Sea is fallout from the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986. The second most important source is global fallout from atmospheric nuclear weapons tests carried out during the late 1950s and early 1960s...... about 14%. For 90Sr in the Baltic Sea, input from atmospheric fallout from nuclear weapons tests has contributed about 81%, while the contribution from Chernobyl fallout was about 13%. Cesium-137 is the main indicator of Baltic seawater with respect to anthropogenic radioactivity. The highest...... concentrations in seawater during 1999–2006 were found in the Baltic Proper and the Bothnian Sea. The general trend is steadily decreasing. Concentrations of anthropogenic radioactivity in fish generally show decreasing trends in agreement with concentrations in seawater. Among freshwater fish, pike showed large...

Baltic Sea: Radionuclides

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Sven Poul; Lüning, Maria; Ilus, Erkki

2010-01-01

The most significant source of anthropogenic radioactivity in the Baltic Sea is fallout from the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986. The second most important source is global fallout from atmospheric nuclear weapons tests carried out during the late 1950s and early 1960s...... about 14%. For 90Sr in the Baltic Sea, input from atmospheric fallout from nuclear weapons tests has contributed about 81%, while the contribution from Chernobyl fallout was about 13%. Cesium-137 is the main indicator of Baltic seawater with respect to anthropogenic radioactivity. The highest...... concentrations in seawater during 1999–2006 were found in the Baltic Proper and the Bothnian Sea. The general trend is steadily decreasing. Concentrations of anthropogenic radioactivity in fish generally show decreasing trends in agreement with concentrations in seawater. Among freshwater fish, pike showed large...

Possibilities of information infrastructure in evaluation of environmental pollution and water quality by implementing the solutions of sustainable development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ramutė Naujikienė

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The purpose – of the article is attached to the examination of information infrastructure for the assessment of water resource planning and water treatment activities, to provide data warehouse (DW analysis measuring environmental and water pollution and indicators for the evaluation based on the requirements of sustainable development.Methodology – the analysis is performed by revealing the factors affecting sustainable development decisions. The insights of scientists are demonstrated by assessing the situation of environmental pollution, the appropriate search parameters, which allow revealing environmental and water contamination by waste water. Secondary data analysis was performed in order to reveal surface water contamination assessment districts in Lithuania and the Baltic Sea region and to summarise the results.It is very important for business activities to implement methods and tools based on a sense of responsibility for environmental pollution through the use of methods for increasing corporate responsibility, supporting measures to promote stimulation resulting in emission reduction, and efficiency of techniques. The paper presents the results of surface water pollution obtained according to the monitoring data and benchmarking analysis in the districts of Lithuania and the Baltic Sea. It can be concluded that the economic factors of enterprise functioning on the occasion of pollution also impacts the pollution of the Baltic Sea.More and more attention in the sustainable development of the implementation process should be given to decreasing population and increasing responsibility of economic operators for measures of environmental management levels: strategic and tactical planning, operational control, evaluation of economic, social and ecological balance. The regulatory importance in determining the impact on the environment should also be kept in mind.The results – were based on the obtained wastewater monitoring and

Baltic Sea hazardous substances management: results and challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Selin, Henrik; VanDeveer, Stacy D

2004-05-01

The introduction into the Baltic Sea of hazardous substances that are persistent, bioaccumulate, and are toxic is an important environmental and human health problem. Multilateral efforts to address this problem have primarily been taken under the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM). This article examines past HELCOM efforts on hazardous substances, and discusses future challenges regarding their management. The article finds that past actions on hazardous substances have had a positive effect on improving Baltic environmental quality and reducing human health risks, although there are remaining issues and difficulties that need to be addressed. In particular, four related future challenges for HELCOM management of hazardous substances are identified and discussed: i) the need to engender further implementation and building public and private sector capacities; ii) the need to improve data availability, quality and comparability across the region and international fora; iii) the need to strengthen existing regulations and incorporate new issues; and iv) the need to effectively coordinate HELCOM activities with efforts on hazardous substances in other international fora.

A model assessment of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin and dibenzofuran sources and fate in the Baltic Sea.

Science.gov (United States)

Armitage, James M; McLachlan, Michael S; Wiberg, Karin; Jonsson, Per

2009-06-01

The contamination of the Baltic Sea with polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) has resulted in restrictions on the marketing and consumption of Baltic Sea fish, making this a priority environmental issue in the European Union. To date there is no consensus on the relative importance of different sources of PCDD/Fs to the Baltic Sea, and hence no consensus on how to address this issue. In this work we synthesized the available information to create a PCDD/F budget for the Baltic Sea, focusing on the two largest basins, the Bothnian Sea and the Baltic Proper. The non-steady state multimedia fate and transport model POPCYCLING-Baltic was employed, using recent data for PCDD/F concentrations in air and sediment as boundary conditions. The PCDD/F concentrations in water predicted by the model were in good agreement with recent measurements. The budget demonstrated that atmospheric deposition was the dominant source of PCDD/Fs to the basins as a whole. This conclusion was supported by a statistical comparison of the PCDD/F congener patterns in surface sediments from accumulation bottoms with the patterns in ambient air, bulk atmospheric deposition, and a range of potential industrial sources. Prospective model simulations indicated that the PCDD/F concentrations in the water column will continue to decrease in the coming years due to the slow response of the Baltic Sea system to falling PCDD/F inputs in the last decades, but that the decrease would be more pronounced if ambient air concentrations were to drop further in the future, for instance as a result of reduced emissions. The study illustrates the usefulness of using monitoring data and multimedia models in an integrated fashion to address complex organic contaminant issues.

Developing Baltic cod recruitment models II : Incorporation of environmental variability and species interaction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Köster, Fritz; Hinrichsen, H.H.; St. John, Michael

2001-01-01

We investigate whether a process-oriented approach based on the results of field, laboratory, and modelling studies can be used to develop a stock-environment-recruitment model for Central Baltic cod (Gadus morhua). Based on exploratory statistical analysis, significant variables influencing...... cod in these areas, suggesting that key biotic and abiotic processes can be successfully incorporated into recruitment models....... survival of early life stages and varying systematically among spawning sites were incorporated into stock-recruitment models, first for major cod spawning sites and then combined for the entire Central Baltic. Variables identified included potential egg production by the spawning stock, abiotic conditions...

Future conditions for integration of the Baltic Electricity Supply System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1999-01-01

The economies of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania developed in close association with the north-west region of the former Soviet Union. This is especially true for energy supply systems and electricity generation and transmission; the Baltic States depend on Russia for much of their primary energy needs, and export power to Russia and Belarus. In restructuring their electricity industries, the Baltic States hope to establish closer relationships and trade with Western Europe. The initial focus has been on changes to the legislative framework, industry restructuring and the establishment of new regulatory institutions. Vertically integrated utilities are in the process of being broken up into a number of separate generation, transmission and distribution companies. This restructuring is a prelude to privatisation. The states aim to establish a common power market among themselves, and hope to integrate this market with neighbouring (Nordic and European) markets. Despite the target set by the Baltic authorities of a common market by 2001, there is little clarity, as yet, on the framework and guidelines for the structure and functioning of the market. This process is supported by other players in the region, and the EU has recently prioritised closer co-operation and harmonisation of power networks in the Baltic Sea region. The Swedish National Energy Administration has identified cooperation on energy and environmental issues in the Baltic Sea region as one of its priorities. Consequently, the Administration commissioned ECON to analyse the conditions for closer linkages between the Baltic and Nordic electricity systems. This report presents the findings of this analysis

Future conditions for integration of the Baltic Electricity Supply System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1999-07-01

The economies of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania developed in close association with the north-west region of the former Soviet Union. This is especially true for energy supply systems and electricity generation and transmission; the Baltic States depend on Russia for much of their primary energy needs, and export power to Russia and Belarus. In restructuring their electricity industries, the Baltic States hope to establish closer relationships and trade with Western Europe. The initial focus has been on changes to the legislative framework, industry restructuring and the establishment of new regulatory institutions. Vertically integrated utilities are in the process of being broken up into a number of separate generation, transmission and distribution companies. This restructuring is a prelude to privatisation. The states aim to establish a common power market among themselves, and hope to integrate this market with neighbouring (Nordic and European) markets. Despite the target set by the Baltic authorities of a common market by 2001, there is little clarity, as yet, on the framework and guidelines for the structure and functioning of the market. This process is supported by other players in the region, and the EU has recently prioritised closer co-operation and harmonisation of power networks in the Baltic Sea region. The Swedish National Energy Administration has identified cooperation on energy and environmental issues in the Baltic Sea region as one of its priorities. Consequently, the Administration commissioned ECON to analyse the conditions for closer linkages between the Baltic and Nordic electricity systems. This report presents the findings of this analysis.

Fifth Baltic Sea pollution load compilation (PLC-5)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Knuuttila, S.; Svendsen, L. M.; Staaf, H.; Kotilainen, P.; Boutrup, S.; Pyhala, M.; Durkin, M.

2011-07-01

This report includes the main results from the Fifth Pollution Load Compilation abbreviated PLC-5. It includes quantified annual waterborne total loads (from rivers, unmonitored and coastal areas as well as direct point and diffuse sources discharging directly to the Baltic Sea) from 1994 to 2008 to provide a basis for evaluating any decreasing (or increasing) trends in the total waterborne inputs to the Baltic Sea. Chapter 1 contains the objectives of PLC and the framework on classification of inputs and sources. Chapter 2 includes a short description of the Baltic Sea catchment area, while the methods for quantification and analysis together with quality assurance topics are briefly introduced in Chapter 3. More detailed information on methodologies is presented in the PLC-5 guidelines (HELCOM 2006). Chapter 4 reports the total inputs to the Baltic Sea of nutrients and selected heavy metals. Furthermore, the results of the quatification of discharges and losses of nitrogen and phosphorus from point and diffuse sources into inland surface waters within the Baltic Sea catchment area (source-oriented approach or gross loads) as well as the total load to the maritime area (load-oriented approarch or net loads) in 2006 are shown. Typically, results are presented by country and by main Baltic Sea sub-region. In Chapter 5, flow normalization is introduced and the results of trend analyses on 1994-2008 time series data on total waterborne loads of nitrogen and phosphorus are given together with a first evaluation of progress in obtaining the provisional reduction targets by country and by main Baltic Sea sub-region. Chapter 6 includes discussion of some of the main conclusions and advice for future PLCs. The annexes contain the flow-normalized annual load data and figures and tables with results from the PLC-5.

The Baltic Sea as a time machine for the future coastal ocean

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Reusch, Thorsten B. H.; Dierking, Jan; Andersson, Helen C.

2018-01-01

Coastal global oceans are expected to undergo drastic changes driven by climate change and increasing anthropogenic pressures in coming decades. Predicting specific future conditions and assessing the best management strategies to maintain ecosystem integrity and sustainable resource use...... transcending its complex multistate policy setting, with integrated management of watershed and sea. The Baltic Sea also demonstrates how rapidly progressing global pressures, particularly warming of Baltic waters and the surrounding catchment area, can offset the efficacy of current management approaches...... of multistressor disturbance and ecosystem deterioration and early implementation of cross-border environmental management to address these problems. The Baltic Sea also stands out in providing a strong scientific foundation and accessibility to long-term data series that provide a unique opportunity to assess...

SCRUBBERS AS SHIPOWNERS’ RESPONSE TO THE SULPHUR DIRECTIVE AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR THE WASTE MANAGEMENT IN BALTIC PORTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Magdalena Klopott

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The paper investogates the recent developments in exhaust gas cleaning systems and the growing interests in scrubber installation among ferry and ro-ro shipowners operating on the Baltic Sea. This technology creates the need for reception of scrubber sludge, which is produced alongside with gas cleaning. The study states that the information about the disposal of scrubber waste is largely limited or vague and evaluates – on the basis of a questionnaire - the availability of port reception facilities for the disposal of waste from sulphur scrubbers at major Baltic Sea ports. The paper concludes that a review of current legislature on port reception facilities is absolutely necessary and expresses the hope that the situation will improve in the wake of recent environmental regulations.

Nitrogen fixation by cyanobacteria stimulates production in Baltic food webs.

Science.gov (United States)

Karlson, Agnes M L; Duberg, Jon; Motwani, Nisha H; Hogfors, Hedvig; Klawonn, Isabell; Ploug, Helle; Barthel Svedén, Jennie; Garbaras, Andrius; Sundelin, Brita; Hajdu, Susanna; Larsson, Ulf; Elmgren, Ragnar; Gorokhova, Elena

2015-06-01

Filamentous, nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria form extensive summer blooms in the Baltic Sea. Their ability to fix dissolved N2 allows cyanobacteria to circumvent the general summer nitrogen limitation, while also generating a supply of novel bioavailable nitrogen for the food web. However, the fate of the nitrogen fixed by cyanobacteria remains unresolved, as does its importance for secondary production in the Baltic Sea. Here, we synthesize recent experimental and field studies providing strong empirical evidence that cyanobacterial nitrogen is efficiently assimilated and transferred in Baltic food webs via two major pathways: directly by grazing on fresh or decaying cyanobacteria and indirectly through the uptake by other phytoplankton and microbes of bioavailable nitrogen exuded from cyanobacterial cells. This information is an essential step toward guiding nutrient management to minimize noxious blooms without overly reducing secondary production, and ultimately most probably fish production in the Baltic Sea.

Renewable energy in the Baltic countries: the case of hydropower

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Punys, P.; Dumbrauskas, A.; Rimkus, Z.; Streimikiene, D.

2006-01-01

This paper analyses the use of renewable energy sources (RES) dedicated mainly for electricity generation in the Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania). Hydropower sector including both large (medium) and small power plants is particularly considered. The region has very limited energy resources of its own and is heavily dependent on the import of the primary energy sources (in some way except Estonia). The main objective of energy policy of the Baltic countries is to reduce such a total dependence by favouring the use of RES. A brief description of energy sector is given, focusing on electricity generation. RES potential currently in use and to be exploited in the future, buy- back rates of the key sources are presented. The countries' target broken down according to the individual RES to meet the EU 'green' electricity directive (2001/77/CE) are presented. Small and large hydropower potential is analyzed, a general overview of hydro-plants in operation and planned schemes is provided. A particular attention is devoted to environmental and social aspects of hydropower development. The requirements of the protected areas in relation to dam construction are analyzed, an estimation of resistance to small hydropower development is shown. The environmental legislation including forbidden rivers for damming actually in force in the Baltic countries is considered; hydropower image perceptible by general public, NGOs and official environmental bodies are discussed. The causes and legal basis of the promulgation of the list of forbidden rivers are revealed. A conclusion is drawn that the contradiction between two EU legal frameworks - environmental protection and promotion of renewables, in the case of hydropower, exists. The evaluation of the quantitative impact of the forbidden rivers on small hydropower resources in Lithuania proves. the environmental legislation is one of the strictest in the European countries. (authors)

Essential coastal habitats for fish in the Baltic Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Kraufvelin, Patrik; Pekcan-Hekim, Zeynep; Bergström, Ulf; Florin, Ann-Britt; Lehikoinen, Annukka; Mattila, Johanna; Arula, Timo; Briekmane, Laura; Brown, Elliot John; Celmer, Zuzanna; Dainys, Justas; Jokinen, Henri; Kääriä, Petra; Kallasvuo, Meri; Lappalainen, Antti; Lozys, Linas; Möller, Peter; Orio, Alessandro; Rohtla, Mehis; Saks, Lauri; Snickars, Martin; Støttrup, Josianne; Sundblad, Göran; Taal, Imre; Ustups, Didzis; Verliin, Aare; Vetemaa, Markus; Winkler, Helmut; Wozniczka, Adam; Olsson, Jens

2018-05-01

Many coastal and offshore fish species are highly dependent on specific habitat types for population maintenance. In the Baltic Sea, shallow productive habitats in the coastal zone such as wetlands, vegetated flads/lagoons and sheltered bays as well as more exposed rocky and sandy areas are utilized by fish across many life history stages including spawning, juvenile development, feeding and migration. Although there is general consensus about the critical importance of these essential fish habitats (EFH) for fish production along the coast, direct quantitative evidence for their specific roles in population growth and maintenance is still scarce. Nevertheless, for some coastal species, indirect evidence exists, and in many cases, sufficient data are also available to carry out further quantitative analyses. As coastal EFH in the Baltic Sea are often found in areas that are highly utilized and valued by humans, they are subjected to many different pressures. While cumulative pressures, such as eutrophication, coastal construction and development, climate change, invasive species and fisheries, impact fish in coastal areas, the conservation coverage for EFH in these areas remains poor. This is mainly due to the fact that historically, fisheries management and nature conservation are not integrated neither in research nor in management in Baltic Sea countries. Setting joint objectives for fisheries management and nature conservation would hence be pivotal for improved protection of EFH in the Baltic Sea. To properly inform management, improvements in the development of monitoring strategies and mapping methodology for EFH are also needed. Stronger international cooperation between Baltic Sea states will facilitate improved management outcomes across ecologically arbitrary boundaries. This is especially important for successful implementation of international agreements and legislative directives such as the Baltic Sea Action Plan, the Marine Strategy Framework

Finnish Archaeologists’ Contacts with the Baltic Countries during the Second World War

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Timo Salminen

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Finnish archaeologists, especially Aarne Michaël Tallgren, had established contacts with their colleagues in the Baltic countries before the Second World War. In the summer of 1939, the world situation became a dominant theme in letters between archaeologists. The outbreak of war in Europe and the military base negotiations in Moscow evoked increasing concern. After the Soviet attack on Finland, only a few Finnish and Baltic archaeologists stayed in contact, but communications revived quickly after the Finnish-Soviet peace treaty of 1940. Estonian archaeologist Harri Moora saw the trials of war as a punishment for forgetting all spiritual values in previous years. The Soviet occupation of the Baltic countries in 1940 broke all contacts for longer than a year. After Germany had occupied the Baltic countries in 1941 and was allied with Finland in war against the Soviet Union, connections could be resumed to some extent. Tallgren, together with the Swedish State Antiquarian Sigurd Curman, now started planning the evacuation of children from Estonia to Sweden. In 1942, scholarly discussion returned to the correspondence, although only on a practical level, but already in early 1943 all correspondence became impossible. At the same time, Finnish archaeologists were in contact with Baltic refugees, especially Francis Balodis from Latvia. There were also Scandinavian and British archaeologists with whom Finnish researchers exchanged information about colleagues in the Baltic countries. The communications mainly focused on three things: getting and spreading information regarding the current situation, offering both practical help and psychological support to colleagues in the Baltic countries, and attempting to re-establish the exchange of ideas within the scholarly community.

The Baltic haline conveyor belt or the overturning circulation and mixing in the Baltic.

Science.gov (United States)

Döös, Kristofer; Meier, H E Markus; Döscher, Ralf

2004-06-01

A study of the water-mass circulation of the Baltic has been undertaken by making use of a three dimensional Baltic Sea model simulation. The saline water from the North Atlantic is traced through the Danish Sounds into the Baltic where it upwells and mixes with the fresh water inflow from the rivers forming a Baltic haline conveyor belt. The mixing of the saline water from the Great Belt and Oresund with the fresh water is investigated making use of overturning stream functions and Lagrangian trajectories. The overturning stream function was calculated as a function of four different vertical coordinates (depth, salinity, temperature and density) in order to understand the path of the water and where it upwells and mixes. Evidence of a fictive depth overturning cell similar to the Deacon Cell in the Southern Ocean was found in the Baltic proper corresponding to the gyre circulation around Gotland, which vanishes when the overturning stream function is projected on density layers. A Lagrangian trajectory study was performed to obtain a better view of the circulation and mixing of the saline and fresh waters. The residence time of the water masses in the Baltic is calculated to be 26-29 years and the Lagrangian dispersion reaches basin saturation after 5 years.

[Pietro U. Dini. Prelude to Baltic linguistics : earliest theories about Baltic languages (16th century)] / Stefan Donecker

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Donecker, Stefan, 1977-

2015-01-01

Arvustus: Dini, Pietro U. Prelude to Baltic linguistics : earliest theories about Baltic languages (16th century). (On the boundary of two worlds : identity, freedom, and moral imagination in the Baltics, 36). Verlag Rodopi, Amsterdam und New York 2014

On the importance of Major Baltic Inflows for oxygenation of the central Baltic Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Neumann, Thomas; Radtke, Hagen; Seifert, Torsten

2017-02-01

In December 2014, the third strongest salt water inflow into the Baltic Sea occurred since 1880. It was assumed that the inflow would turn the entire bottom water of the Baltic Sea from anoxic into oxic conditions for an extended period. However, already in late 2015, the central Eastern Baltic Sea had turned back into anoxic conditions. This rapid oxygen decline was in fact surprising since a weaker inflow in 2003 ventilated the Baltic Sea for a longer period of time. With the aid of an ecosystem model of the Baltic Sea, the two inflows in 2003 and 2014 were analyzed in detail. Although the 2014 inflow event was twice as strong as the 2003 inflow event, oxygen transport continued after the latter one, supplying about the same amount of oxygen again. In addition to the major inflow event, a series of smaller inflows in 2003 supplied the extra oxygen transport. Therefore, the strength of a major inflow event alone cannot be used to predict the oxygenation impact. Instead, it is necessary to consider smaller events, in particular those occurring just before and after a major inflow event, as well. An element tagging method showed that the share of oxygen imported across the Danish Straits on the total oxygen arriving at the central Eastern Baltic Sea is between 10% and 20%. Therefore, the oxygen concentration of the inflowing water seems to be of less importance for the oxygenation effect on the central Baltic Sea due to the strong dilution effect.

The electricity markets around the Baltic Sea; Elmarknaderna runt Oestersjoen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-12-01

A thorough description of the electric power markets in the countries surrounding the Baltic sea is given in this book. Environmental problems and regulations and nuclear power are surveyed. Factors that may affect an expanded trade of electricity between the countries are analyzed

Modelling environmentally friendly fairways using Lagrangian trajectories: a case study for the Gulf of Finland, the Baltic Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Soomere, Tarmo; Berezovski, Mihhail; Quak, Ewald; Viikmäe, Bert

2011-10-01

We address possibilities of minimising environmental risks using statistical features of current-driven propagation of adverse impacts to the coast. The recently introduced method for finding the optimum locations of potentially dangerous activities (Soomere et al. in Proc Estonian Acad Sci 59:156-165, 2010) is expanded towards accounting for the spatial distributions of probabilities and times for reaching the coast for passively advecting particles released in different sea areas. These distributions are calculated using large sets of Lagrangian trajectories found from Eulerian velocity fields provided by the Rossby Centre Ocean Model with a horizontal resolution of 2 nautical miles for 1987-1991. The test area is the Gulf of Finland in the northeastern Baltic Sea. The potential gain using the optimum fairways from the Baltic Proper to the eastern part of the gulf is an up to 44% decrease in the probability of coastal pollution and a similar increase in the average time for reaching the coast. The optimum fairways are mostly located to the north of the gulf axis (by 2-8 km on average) and meander substantially in some sections. The robustness of this approach is quantified as the typical root mean square deviation (6-16 km) between the optimum fairways specified from different criteria. Drastic variations in the width of the `corridors' for almost optimal fairways (2-30 km for the average width of 15 km) signifies that the sensitivity of the results with respect to small changes in the environmental criteria largely varies in different parts of the gulf.

Environmental reconstructions of Eemian Stage interglacial marine records in the Lower Vistula area, southern Baltic Sea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Knudsen, Karen Luise; Jiang, Hui; Gibbard, Philip L

2012-01-01

is established on the basis of correlation with the annually laminated Bispingen sequence. Diatoms, foraminifera and ostracods are used as marine environmental proxies at both sites. An indication of marine conditions as early as pollen zone E1 or E2 at Licze and close to the E2–E3 boundary at Obrzynowo reflects......A multiproxy study of Eemian Stage sediments in two core records, Licze and Obrzynowo, in the Gulf of Gdańsk area of northern Poland, shows that the brackish-marine interglacial conditions were determined partly by regional environmental changes and partly by local changes of the river outflow from...... the Vistula into the southern Baltic Sea. Correlation of the sediments with the Eemian is based on pollen analysis of the Obrzynowo record, showing the presence of regional pollen zones (RPAZ) E2–E6, combined with previously published pollen analyses from Licze (RPAZ E1–E7). A floating chronology...

Genetic and environmental correlates of morphological variation in a marine fish: the case of Baltic Sea herring ( Clupea harengus )

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, H.B.H.; Pertoldi, C.; Hansen, Michael Møller

2008-01-01

Baltic Sea herring (Clupea harengus) have been shown to exhibit morphological differences across the marked salinity and temperature gradients in the region. Here we analyse genetic (nine microsatellite loci), morpho metric (skull shape), and meristic (pectoral fin rays and number of vertebrae...... and plastic responses. Skull shape, including and excluding size variation, differed significantly among samples, both temporally and spatially. Genetic and morphometric distances were correlated, especially when size variation was excluded from the analysis. When size variation was included, skull shape...... variation was more closely correlated with environmental distances among spawning locations. Vertebrate number differed among samples and was correlated with environmental distances, whereas the number of fin rays was not. Genetic and geographic distances among samples were not correlated....

Solar radiation in the Baltic Sea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jerzy Dera

2010-12-01

Full Text Available The influx of solar radiation to the Baltic Sea and its penetration into its waters is described on the basis of selected results of optical and bio-optical studies in the Baltic published by various authors during the past ca 50 years. The variability in the natural irradiance of this sea is illustrated on time scales from short-term fluctuations occurring during a single day to differences in mean monthly values over a period of many years. Data on variability of the proportions between UV, VIS and IR energy in the light reaching the sea surface are also discussed.Long-term monthly mean values of the incident solar radiation flux at the surface of the Baltic Proper are given; they were obtained from meteorological and solar radiation measurements and model approximations. The transmittances of these mean monthly radiation fluxes across the surface of the Baltic are given, as are the typical energyand spectral characteristics of the underwater irradiance, its attenuation with depth in the sea and the associated euphotic zone depths, as well as typical ranges of variability of these characteristics in different Baltic basins. Some of these characteristics are illustrated by typical empirical data. These mean values are not fully representative, however, because with the sole use of classical in situ measurement methods from on board research vessels in the Baltic, it has not been possible to gather a sufficientlyrepresentative set of empirical data that would adequately reflect the variability of the optical characteristics of all the basins of this sea. The article goes on to introduce the statistical model of vertical distributions of chlorophyll a concentration in the Baltic and the bio-optical model of Baltic Case 2 waters, the use of which contribute very significantly to this description of the optical characteristics and will enable this data set to be hugely expanded to include all the Baltic basins. This opportunity is presented by the

The Impact of Greening Tax Systems on Sustainable Energy Development in the Baltic States

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dalia Streimikiene

2018-05-01

Full Text Available The paper deals with the greening of tax systems in the European Union (EU, and reviews the achievements of the Baltic States in relation to greening their tax systems and implementing the sustainable energy development goals set by the EU’s energy policies. Environmental taxes promote sustainable energy development, as they allow internalizing the external costs of atmospheric pollution in the energy sector. Energy production and consumption are a major source classical pollutants and greenhouse gas (GHG emissions. Almost of the all EU member states (MS apply pollution taxes as the most important economic tool for mitigating the environmental impacts of various economic activities. Considering the importance of the energy sector in terms of its contributions to total atmospheric emissions in the EU, it is supposed that environmental taxes are important drivers of sustainable energy development. Environmental taxes, as the main tool for the integration of negative externalities that are related to atmospheric pollution, are imposed to create incentives for reducing fossil fuel consumption and switching to renewable energy sources or fuels that have a lower carbon content and thus cause less pollution. The paper presents a comparative assessment of the impact of environmental taxes on sustainable energy development indicators in three selected countries from the Baltic region (Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia during the period 2005–2015, and reveals the role that the greening of tax systems has had on implementing sustainable energy development targets in the Baltic States.

BALTEX—an interdisciplinary research network for the Baltic Sea region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reckermann, Marcus; Langner, Joakim; Arheimer, Berit; Markus Meier, H E; Omstedt, Anders; Von Storch, Hans; Hünicke, Birgit; Keevallik, Sirje; Schneider, Bernd

2011-01-01

BALTEX is an environmental research network dealing with the Earth system of the entire Baltic Sea drainage basin. Important elements include the water and energy cycle, climate variability and change, water management and extreme events, and related impacts on biogeochemical cycles. BALTEX was founded in 1993 as a GEWEX continental-scale experiment and is currently in its second 10 yr phase. Phase I (1993–2002) was primarily dedicated to hydrological, meteorological and oceanographic processes in the Baltic Sea drainage basin, hence mostly dealt with the physical aspects of the system. Scientific focus was on the hydrological cycle and the exchange of energy between the atmosphere, the Baltic Sea and the surface of its catchment. The BALTEX study area was hydrologically defined as the Baltic Sea drainage basin. The second 10 yr phase of BALTEX (Phase II: 2003–12) has strengthened regional climate research, water management issues, biogeochemical cycles and overarching efforts to reach out to stakeholders and decision makers, as well as to foster communication and education. Achievements of BALTEX Phase II have been the establishment of an assessment report of regional climate change and its impacts on the Baltic Sea basin (from hydrological to biological and socio-economic), the further development of regional physical climate models and the integration of biogeochemical and ecosystem models. BALTEX features a strong infrastructure, with an international secretariat and a publication series, and organizes various workshops and conferences. This article gives an overview of the BALTEX programme, with an emphasis on Phase II, with some examples from BALTEX-related research.

Modelling the atmospheric transport of trace metals from Europe to the North Sea and the Baltic Sea

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Petersen, G; Weber, H; Grassl, H [GKSS-Forschungszentrum Geesthacht G.m.b.H., Geesthacht-Tesperhude (Germany, F.R.). Inst. fuer Physik

1989-01-01

Within the framework of a research contract with the German Federal Environmental Agency the long range transport of trace metals over Europe and the deposition of trace metals into the North Sea and the Baltic Sea are estimated using the EMEP- (European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme) trajectory model. The methodology for the model calculations is explained. Preliminary results for the total deposition of lead into the North Sea and the Baltic Sea show, that the calculated values are lower than previous estimates based on extrapolations from measurements at coastal sites and ship measurements in the southern Baltic Sea, respectively. (orig.).

Assessment of the environmental status for the North Sea and Baltic Sea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Martin Mørk; Fryer, Rob; Andersen, Jesper H.

to or at background”, green for “no harmful effect to the environment” and red for unacceptable. The HELCOM goals set out in the Baltic Sea action plan are similar, “concentrations of hazardous substances close to natural levels”, “all fish safe to eat”, and “healthy wildlife”. The assessment criteria used......The two Conventions for the Baltic Sea (Helsinki, HELCOM) and the North Sea (Oslo-Paris, OSPAR) both are in the process of assessing the state of the marine environment and producing Quality Status reports for their regions for publication in 2010. These assessments will be part of the basis...... for Marine Strategy work in the EU. An overview of the time trends and status for metals, PCBs and PAHs in biota and sediment for the convention areas will be presented, and the scientific basis for the assessments and how results from different contaminant groups and wider areas are aggregated...

Sea ice in the Baltic Sea - revisiting BASIS ice, a~historical data set covering the period 1960/1961-1978/1979

Science.gov (United States)

Löptien, U.; Dietze, H.

2014-06-01

The Baltic Sea is a seasonally ice-covered, marginal sea, situated in central northern Europe. It is an essential waterway connecting highly industrialised countries. Because ship traffic is intermittently hindered by sea ice, the local weather services have been monitoring sea ice conditions for decades. In the present study we revisit a historical monitoring data set, covering the winters 1960/1961. This data set, dubbed Data Bank for Baltic Sea Ice and Sea Surface Temperatures (BASIS) ice, is based on hand-drawn maps that were collected and then digitised 1981 in a joint project of the Finnish Institute of Marine Research (today Finish Meteorological Institute (FMI)) and the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI). BASIS ice was designed for storage on punch cards and all ice information is encoded by five digits. This makes the data hard to access. Here we present a post-processed product based on the original five-digit code. Specifically, we convert to standard ice quantities (including information on ice types), which we distribute in the current and free Network Common Data Format (NetCDF). Our post-processed data set will help to assess numerical ice models and provide easy-to-access unique historical reference material for sea ice in the Baltic Sea. In addition we provide statistics showcasing the data quality. The website www.baltic-ocean.org hosts the post-prossed data and the conversion code. The data are also archived at the Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science PANGEA (doi:10.1594/PANGEA.832353).

Sea ice in the Baltic Sea - revisiting BASIS ice, a historical data set covering the period 1960/1961-1978/1979

Science.gov (United States)

Löptien, U.; Dietze, H.

2014-12-01

The Baltic Sea is a seasonally ice-covered, marginal sea in central northern Europe. It is an essential waterway connecting highly industrialised countries. Because ship traffic is intermittently hindered by sea ice, the local weather services have been monitoring sea ice conditions for decades. In the present study we revisit a historical monitoring data set, covering the winters 1960/1961 to 1978/1979. This data set, dubbed Data Bank for Baltic Sea Ice and Sea Surface Temperatures (BASIS) ice, is based on hand-drawn maps that were collected and then digitised in 1981 in a joint project of the Finnish Institute of Marine Research (today the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI)) and the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI). BASIS ice was designed for storage on punch cards and all ice information is encoded by five digits. This makes the data hard to access. Here we present a post-processed product based on the original five-digit code. Specifically, we convert to standard ice quantities (including information on ice types), which we distribute in the current and free Network Common Data Format (NetCDF). Our post-processed data set will help to assess numerical ice models and provide easy-to-access unique historical reference material for sea ice in the Baltic Sea. In addition we provide statistics showcasing the data quality. The website http://www.baltic-ocean.org hosts the post-processed data and the conversion code. The data are also archived at the Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science, PANGAEA (doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.832353).

Hydrographic influence on the spawning habitat suitability of western Baltic cod (Gadus morhua)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hüssy, K.; Hinrichsen, H.-H.; Huwer, B.

2012-01-01

Hydrographic influence on the spawning habitat suitability of western Baltic cod (Gadus morhua) – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 69: 1736–1743.Recruitment variability of marine fish is influenced by the reproductive potential of the stock (i.e. stock characteristics and abundance) and the survival...... of early life stages, mediated by environmental conditions of both a physical (water temperature, salinity and oxygen conditions, ocean currents) and a biological nature (i.e. food, predators). The objective of this study is to assess the importance of variability in environmental conditions within...... allowing survival of western Baltic cod eggs indicates that favourable conditions predominantly occurred during the late spawning season in April/May, while minimum survival rates could be expected from January to March. Unsuitable time periods and habitats exhibiting the highest mortality rates...

O mezhdunarodnom sotrudnichestve Severo-Zapada Rossii v innovacionnoj sfere na Baltike [On the international cooperation of North-West Russia in the field of innovations in the Baltic

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Baranova Yulia

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This article focuses on the cooperation between the constituent entities of the Northwestern Federal District of the Russian Federation and the Baltic countries (Finland, Estonia, and Norway in the field of innovations at national and regional levels, as well as at the level of corporate cooperation. The author reviews successful implementation of innovation projects within cross-border and transnational cooperation programmes. The most significant projects focus on the development of information and communications technologies in healthcare, the development of networks uniting innovation centres in the Baltic Sea region, and the transnational network of business incubators in the Baltic Sea region. The author identifies promising areas of cooperation between North-West Russia, Finland, Norway, and Estonia in the field of innovations, including telecommunications, information and, space; biological, environmental and nanotechnologies; software, medicine, education, culture, energy efficiency and ecological construction, as well as the development of creative industries. The article pays attention to large-scale national projects, such as “St. Petersburg Corridor — Two Model Open Innovation Platform” and “Partnership in commercialization of Russian innovations”.

The results of artificial radionuclides monitoring in the Baltic sea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Astrauskiene, N.; Lukinskiene, M; Zemaitiene, G.

1994-01-01

Long-term radionuclides volume activity (v.a.) monitoring (1976-1990) data showed that measurement results obtained in steady observation station give reliable information of the coastal area of the Baltic sea radioactive equilibrium between atmosphere and surface water was observed in the coastal zone. Chernobyl Power Plant accident influenced upon the Baltic sea coastal water by radionuclides 137 Cs and 144 Ce. Radionuclide 90 Sr volume activity was practically unchangerable. The mechanism of radionuclides fallout from atmosphere are various. lt can be illustrated by 137 Cs and 144 Ce a.v. structure field variations in open sea and coastal zone near Juodkrante. The Baltic sea inhomogeneous contamination by radionuclide 137 Cs in 1988-1990 leads to equalization of 137 Cs v.a. in the surface waters and it causes v.a. increase in coastal waters. (author)

Stock recruitment relationships for cod ( Gadus morhua L.) in the central Baltic Sea incorporating environmental variability

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jarre, Astrid; Wieland, Kai; MacKenzie, Brian

2000-01-01

of investigations on recruitment, which were continued through a partial recovery of the stock in the mid-1990s. The principal factors influencing recruitment and recognized at present are: (i) the volume of water with temperature, oxygen and salinity conditions which meet the minimum requirements for successful......Recruitment of central/eastern Baltic cod critically depends on favourable oceanographic conditions in the deeper basins of the Baltic Sea creating a suitable habitat for the development of early life stages. The decline in the size of the spawning stock since the mid-1980s initiated a series...

Spatio-temporal dynamics of a fish predator: Density-dependent and hydrographic effects on Baltic Sea cod population.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valerio Bartolino

Full Text Available Understanding the mechanisms of spatial population dynamics is crucial for the successful management of exploited species and ecosystems. However, the underlying mechanisms of spatial distribution are generally complex due to the concurrent forcing of both density-dependent species interactions and density-independent environmental factors. Despite the high economic value and central ecological importance of cod in the Baltic Sea, the drivers of its spatio-temporal population dynamics have not been analytically investigated so far. In this paper, we used an extensive trawl survey dataset in combination with environmental data to investigate the spatial dynamics of the distribution of the Eastern Baltic cod during the past three decades using Generalized Additive Models. The results showed that adult cod distribution was mainly affected by cod population size, and to a minor degree by small-scale hydrological factors and the extent of suitable reproductive areas. As population size decreases, the cod population concentrates to the southern part of the Baltic Sea, where the preferred more marine environment conditions are encountered. Using the fitted models, we predicted the Baltic cod distribution back to the 1970s and a temporal index of cod spatial occupation was developed. Our study will contribute to the management and conservation of this important resource and of the ecosystem where it occurs, by showing the forces shaping its spatial distribution and therefore the potential response of the population to future exploitation and environmental changes.

Baltic, Slavic, Germanic

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Frederik Kortlandt

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The western Indo-European vocabulary in Baltic and Slavic is the result of an Indo-European substratum which contained an older non-Indo-European layer and was part of the Corded Ware horizon. The numbers show that a considerable part of the vocabulary was borrowed after the split between Baltic and Slavic, which came about when their speakers moved westwards north and south of the Pripet marshes. Germanic and Balto-Slavic were never contiguous Indo-European dialects at any stage of their prehistory.

Historic changes in length distributions of three Baltic cod (Gadus morhua) stocks: Evidence of growth retardation.

Science.gov (United States)

Svedäng, Henrik; Hornborg, Sara

2017-08-01

Understanding how combinations of fishing effort and selectivity affect productivity is central to fisheries research. We investigate the roles of fishing regulation in comparison with ecosystem status for Baltic Sea cod stock productivity, growth performance, and population stability. This case study is interesting because three cod populations with different exploitation patterns and stock status are located in three adjacent but partially, ecologically different areas. In assessing stock status, growth, and productivity, we use survey information and rather basic stock parameters without relying on age readings. Because there is an urgent interest of better understanding of the current development of the Eastern Baltic cod stock, we argue that our approach represents partly a novel way of interpreting monitoring information together with catch data in a simplified yet more informative way. Our study reports how the Eastern and Western Baltic cod have gone toward more truncated size structures between 1991 and 2016, in particular for the Eastern Baltic cod, whereas the Öresund cod show no trend. We suggest that selective fishing may disrupt fish population dynamic stability and that lower natural productivity might amplify the effects of selective fishing. In support of earlier findings on a density-dependent growth of Eastern Baltic cod, management is advised to acknowledge that sustainable exploitation levels for Eastern Baltic cod are much more limited than perceived in regular assessments. Of more general importance, our results emphasize the need to embrace a more realistic view on what ecosystems can produce regarding tractable fish biomass to facilitate a more ecosystem-based fisheries management.

Baltic Landscapes : Festival of Images from Baltics

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

2000-01-01

Hanno Soans eesti projektist "Analogue TV" N.E.W.S. (north-east-west-süd) seminaril. Eesti videoprogramm näitusel "Baltic Landscapes" (kunstnikud A. Maimik, K. Kaljo, E-L. Semper, M. Raat, M. Laanemets, K. Sukmit, J. Zoova) Bornholmis

Evaluation report of the Nordic-Baltic annex to the INEX-2-FIN-exercise April 17, 1997

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1997-10-01

Under the auspices of the NKS programme and as a part of EKO-4 project a special Nordic-Baltic emergency exercise was carried out. In order to rationalise exercise activities it was organised as an annex to the international INEX-2-FIN exercise arranged by the OECD/NEA on April 17, 1997. Some countries carried out simultaneous national exercises as well. Only the Nordic-Baltic exercise is discussed in this report. The objectives of the INEX-2-FIN exercise were to test real time information exchange, decision making based on plant conditions and real weather, and public information. These objectives determined the framework for the scenario and necessary scripts of the exercise. For the Nordic-Baltic annex of the exercise five more detailed objectives, subordinated to the INEX-2-FIN objectives, were defined by the planning group under EKO-4 project. Since the exercise was the first of this kind for the Baltic countries only one of the special objectives was designed for them, namely N4. An independent evaluators group, consisting of one member from each participating country plus a chairperson, was set to evaluate the Nordic-Baltic annex of the INEX-2-FIN exercise. However, because of lack of personnel in the Baltic countries the evaluators were the same persons as in the planning group. (au)

Caesium-137 distribution, inventories and accumulation history in the Baltic Sea sediments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zaborska, Agata; Winogradow, Aleksandra; Pempkowiak, Janusz

2014-01-01

��2 ). • Most of the Baltic Sea sediments accumulated 137 Cs in the range from 750 to 2675 Bq m −2. • The 137 Cs accumulation history in some areas is affected by environmental processes. • The recent, annual mean 137 Cs load to the Baltic Sea deposits is 38 ± 22 Bq m −2

Spatial and interannual variability in Baltic sprat batch fecundity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Haslob, H.; Tomkiewicz, Jonna; Hinrichsen, H.H.

2011-01-01

in the central Baltic Sea, namely the Bornholm Basin, Gdansk Deep and Southern Gotland Basin. Environmental parameters such as hydrography, fish condition and stock density were tested in order to investigate the observed variability in sprat fecundity. Absolute batch fecundity was found to be positively related...... to fish length and weight. Significant differences in absolute and relative batch fecundity of Baltic sprat among areas and years were detected, and could partly be explained by hydrographic features of the investigated areas. A non-linear multiple regression model taking into account fish length...... and ambient temperature explained 70% of variability in absolute batch fecundity. Oxygen content and fish condition were not related to sprat batch fecundity. Additionally, a negative effect of stock size on sprat batch fecundity in the Bornholm Basin was revealed. The obtained data and results are important...

Multi-decadal scale variability in the eastern Baltic cod fishery 1550-1860 - Evidence and causes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

MacKenzie, Brian; Bager, M.; Ojaveer, H.

2007-01-01

in the Baltic as developed and implemented by organisations such as the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (HELCOM), the nine coastal countries and the European Union includes recovery of the cod population, a reduction in nutrient...... is unknown, as is the relative role of fishing, climate variability/regimes, eutrophication and reduction of marine mammal predator populations. We have begun to investigate whether historical fisheries information (landings, effort, distribution) from before the 1880s is available in Baltic archives...

The Baltic Klint beneath the central Baltic Sea and its comparison with the North Estonian Klint

Science.gov (United States)

Tuuling, Igor; Flodén, Tom

2016-06-01

Along its contact with the Baltic Shield, the margin of the East European Platform reveals a well-developed, flooded terraced relief. The most striking and consistent set of escarpments at the contact of the Lower Palaeozoic calcareous and terrigenous rocks, known as the Baltic Klint (BK), extends from northwest of Russia to the Swedish island of Öland. Marine seismic reflection profiling in 1990-2004 revealed the central Baltic Sea Klint (BSK) section in detail and enabled comparison of its geology/geomorphology with a classical klint-section onshore, namely the North Estonian Klint (NEK). The conception of the BK onshore, which is based on the land-sea separating terraced relief in northern Estonia, is not fully applicable beneath the sea. Therefore, we consider that the BSK includes the entire terraced Cambrian outcrop. We suggest the term "Baltic Klint Complex" to include the well-terraced margin of the Ordovician limestone outcrop, which is weakly developed in Estonia. Because of a steady lithological framework of the bedrock layers across the southern slope of the Fennoscandian Shield, the central BSK in the western and the NEK in the eastern part of the Baltic Homocline have largely identical morphologies. The North Estonian Ordovician limestone plateau with the calcareous crest of the BK extends across the central Baltic Sea, whereas morphological changes/variations along the Klint base occur due to the east-westerly lithostratigraphic/thickness changes in the siliciclastic Cambrian sequence. The verge of the NEK, located some 30-50 m above sea level, starts to drop in altitude as its east-westerly course turns to northeast-southwest in western Estonia. Further westwards, the BK shifts gradually into southerly deepening (0.1-0.2°) layers as its crest drops to c. 150 m below sea level (b.s.l.) near Gotska Sandön. This course change is accompanied by a considerable decrease in thickness of the platform sedimentary cover, as below the central Baltic Sea the

Impact of climate change on fish population dynamics in the baltic sea: a dynamical downscaling investigation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mackenzie, Brian R; Meier, H E Markus; Lindegren, Martin

2012-01-01

Understanding how climate change, exploitation and eutrophication will affect populations and ecosystems of the Baltic Sea can be facilitated with models which realistically combine these forcings into common frameworks. Here, we evaluate sensitivity of fish recruitment and population dynamics...... and the temperature have influenced recruitment for at least 50 years. The three Baltic Sea models estimate relatively similar developments (increases) in biomass and fishery yield during twenty-first century climate change (ca. 28 % range among models). However, this uncertainty is exceeded by the one associated...... to past and future environmental forcings provided by three ocean-biogeochemical models of the Baltic Sea. Modeled temperature explained nearly as much variability in reproductive success of sprat (Sprattus sprattus; Clupeidae) as measured temperatures during 1973-2005, and both the spawner biomass...

Environmental effects of thermal and radioactive discharges from nuclear power plants in the boreal brackish-water conditions of the northern Baltic Sea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ilus, E.

2009-08-01

During recent decades, thermal and radioactive discharges from nuclear power plants into the aquatic environment have become the subject of lively debate as an ecological concern. Recently, an increasing demand for facts has appeared in context with the Environmental Impact Assessment procedures that are being in progress for planned new nuclear power units in Finland. The target of this thesis was to summarize the large quantity of results obtained in extensive monitoring programmes and studies carried out in recipient sea areas off the Finnish nuclear power plants at Loviisa and Olkiluoto during more than four decades. Especially in the conditions specific for the northern Baltic Sea, where biota is poor and adapted to relatively low temperatures and to seasonal variation with a cold ice winter and a temperate summer, an increase in temperature may cause increased environmental stress to the organisms. Furthermore, owing to the brackish-water character of the Baltic Sea, many organisms live there near the limit of their physiological tolerance. On the other hand, the low salinity increases the uptake of certain radionuclides by many organisms in comparison with oceanic conditions. The sea areas surrounding the Finnish nuclear power plants differ from each other in many respects (efficiency of water exchange, levels of nutrients and other water quality parameters, water salinity and consequent differences in species composition, abundance and vitality of biota). In addition, there are differences in the discharge quantities and discharge design of the power plants. In this thesis the environmental effects of the two power plants on the water recipients are compared and their relative significance is assessed

Environmental control on anaerobic oxidation of methane in the gassy sediments of Eckernforde Bay (German Baltic)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Treude, T.; Kruger, M.; Boetius, A.

2005-01-01

We investigated the effect of seasonal environmental changes on the rate and distribution of anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) in Eckernforde Bay sediments (German Baltic Sea) and identified organisms that are likely to be involved in the process. Surface sediments were sampled during September...... of methane were measured in vitro. AOM changed seasonally within the upper 20 cm of the sediment, with rates being between 1 and 14 nmol cm(-3) d(-1). Its distribution is suggested to be controlled by oxygen and sulfate penetration, temperature, as well as methane supply, leading to a shallow AOM zone during...... AOM in Eckerntorde Bay. These archaea are known also from other marine methane-rich locations. However, they were not directly associated with sulfate-reducing bacteria. AOM is possibly mediated solely by these archaea that show a mesophilic physiology according to the seasonal temperature changes...

South Baltic wind atlas. South Baltic offshore wind energy regions project

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pena, A.; Hahmann, A.; Hasager, C.B.; Bingoel, F.; Karagali, I.; Badger, J.; Badger, M.; Clausen, Niels-Erik

2011-05-15

A first version of a wind atlas for the South Baltic Sea has been developed using the WRF mesoscale model and verified by data from tall Danish and German masts. Six different boundary-layer parametrization schemes were evaluated by comparing the WRF results to the observed wind profiles at the masts. The WRF modeling was done in a nested domain of high spatial resolution for 4 years. In addition the long-term wind statistics using the NCAR-NCEP reanalysis data were performed during 30 years to provide basis for a long-term adjustment of the results and the final WRF results include a weighting for the long-term trends variability in the South Baltic Sea. Observations from Earth observing satellites were used to evaluate the spatial resolution of the WRF model results near the surface. The QuikSCAT and the WRF results compared well whereas the Envisat ASAR mean wind map showed some variation to the others. The long-term analysis revealed that the South Baltic Sea has a spatially highly variable wind climate during the 30-years. (Author)

Overview of Financial Contagion Channels in the Banking Sector of Baltic States

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura Gudelytė

2014-10-01

Full Text Available AbstractThis article aims to determine and analyse the main features of channels of financial contagion in the banking sector of Baltic States. The most relevant channels seem to be the risk of common lender, the channel of real estate prices the channel of other macroeconomic shocks and the channel of volatility. This paper contributes to the further analysis of internal and external causes of financial crisis and its transmission channels in banking sector in Baltic States.Purpose To indicate and explain main problems related to the systemic risk and the channels of financial contagion in the banking sector of Baltic States.Design/methodology/approach – general overview of research papers presenting concepts and methodologies of assessment of systemic risk of the banking sector, statistical analysis of financial data.Findings determination of the main channels and extent of financial contagion that are relevant to banking sector of Baltic States.Research limitations/implications – the lack of information concerning the liquidity and asset structure of banking sector of Baltic States and the real estate prices in Baltic States. The most common problem analysing the financial contagion and systemic risk is the lack of information (especially about the structure of liabilities and assets of financial institutions, its maturity and the changing new banking regulatory conditions. Due the lack of data it is impossible to create stable and reliable statistical models describing the stochastic behaviour of financial contagion. We do not take into account the political factors concerning the reforms of financial market supervision that have also the impact on financial contagion and systemic risk ant the point of view to Baltic States of foreign investors. The findings of this article should ground the macro-prudential policy in the small countries of supervising institutions focussing on the external factors.Practical implications �

Actual economic and energetics problems of Baltic countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kapala, J.; Miskins, V.; Rudi, U.; Caikovska, M.; Zeltins, N.

1999-01-01

The paper characterises the economic development of the Baltic countries after they have restored the independence. The authors explore the dynamic of the key economic indices - the GDP and inflation level, and show that there are tendencies for the economy to improve. The data on the direct foreign investments per capita are given for each Baltic country as well as on the greatest foreign firms - investors functioning in Latvia and the investment allocation among the sectors. The State Investment Programme realised in Latvia since 1996 is well illustrated, and the share is shown of the sectors involved. The authors briefly discuss legislative activities in the energy sector for Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, and present statistical data on the energy supply in Baltic countries. The energy production and import/export balance is analysed, and the tariffs for electricity are exemplified for all the three countries. The information is also given as to the number of energy debtors and the distributors of the debts for consumed energy among separate branches of energetics in Latvia and Lithuania. The data presented in the paper show that due to decrease in energy resource consumption the harmful pollution have also diminished. (author)

The influence of environmental conditions on early life stages of flounder (Platichthys flesus) in the central Baltic Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Ustups, Didzis; Müller-Karulis, Bärbel; Bergstrom, Ulf; Makarchouk, Andrej; Sics, Ivo

2013-01-01

Flounder (Platichthys flesus) is a temperate marine fish that is well adapted to the brackish waters of the Baltic Sea. There are two sympatric flounder populations in the Baltic Sea, pelagic and demersal spawners, which differ in their spawning habitat and egg characteristics. In the present study, pelagic spawning flounder of the central Baltic Sea was studied. We examined whether variations in hydrological regime can explain fluctuations in flounder early life stages that have occurred over the past 30 years (1970-2005). Using generalized additive modeling to explain the abundance of flounder eggs and larvae in a Latvian ichthyoplankton dataset, we evaluate the hypothesis that the available reproductive volume, defined as the water column with dissolved oxygen larger than 1 ml/l and salinity between 10.6 and 12 PSU, affects the survival of flounder ichthyoplankton and determines recruitment success. Both reproductive volume and spawning stock biomass were significant factors determining flounder ichthyoplankton abundance. Different measures of water temperature did not contribute significantly to the variability of eggs or larvae. However, recruitment did not correlate to the supply of larvae. The findings presented in this study on the relationship between flounder reproduction, spawning stock biomass and reproductive volume, as well as the lack of correlation to recruitment, are valuable for the understanding of flounder ecology in the Baltic Sea, and for developing the management of the species.

Forecasting Actions of Baltic elites: A Scenario Approach

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Smirnov Vadim A.

2016-09-01

Full Text Available This paper provides an overview of different approaches to forecasting the future of the three Baltic States. The author’s theoretical approach to studying Baltic elites is used to forecast changes in the action models of the Baltic elites. The article stresses the scarcity of internal political processes in the Baltics. However, a significant number of scenarios focusing on military aspects in the Baltics have recently been published. The author distinguishes between inertia, confrontation, and cooperation scenarios and examines their prerequisites and possible consequences. The scenarios are developed based on an analysis of geographic, economic, and political factors. The decisive factor is a state-controlled foreign policy, which is affected by the international situation as well as relations between the state and the external resources exploited by political elites. The paper contributes to the general debate about the factors of political development and the role of political elites in it. The author pr ovides additional material for analysing possible developments in the domestic policies of the Baltic States in view of external factors.

What we know about the Baltic Sea: a summary of BSSC 2005

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Szymon Uścinowicz

2006-06-01

Full Text Available Introduction    The Baltic Sea, an internal sea of the European Community, isone of the largest brackish water bodies in the world. It isquite unique in many respects, particularly in its natural featuresand in the cultural, political and socio-economic patterns ofthe countries bordering it.    After nearly 40 years, during which Baltic marine physicists,chemists, biologists and geologists had been holding separatescientific meetings, it was decided the time was ripe to arrangejoint scientific conferences with the purpose of getting togetherto discuss general and specific aspects of the Baltic Sea, toexchange information, to integrate efforts, and to get to knowand understand each other better. The Sopot 2005 Congress, precededby the Baltic Sea Science Congresses in Rønne (1997, Warnemünde(1999, Stockholm (2001 and Helsinki (2003, was the fifth jointmeeting of the Conference of Baltic Oceanographers (CBO, BalticMarine Biologists (BMB and Baltic Sea Geologists (BSG. Likeall the previous congresses, the one held in Sopot bore witnessto the idea that we all, members of CBO, BMB and BSG, shouldcontinue to work together even more closely.    The meeting in Sopot instigated discussion on a broad spectrumof problems, from large-scale climate change-related processesto local, small-scale specific Baltic Sea features. Further subjectsfor deliberation included modelling as a research tool and asa way of providing services and forecasting certain phenomena,operational oceanography, and man's impact on the Baltic Seaenvironment and its resources.    We are indebted to our Scientific Committee for their work duringthe past months to sort out and select interesting contributionsto all the oral and poster sessions, and thus for making theCongress an attractive and quality event. We also thank the PolishAcademy of Sciences and the City of Sopot for their financialsupport.    We hope that the joint Congress and fruitful scientific

Baltic Sea biodiversity status vs. cumulative human pressures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Jesper H.; Halpern, Benjamin S.; Korpinen, Samuli

2015-01-01

Abstract Many studies have tried to explain spatial and temporal variations in biodiversity status of marine areas from a single-issue perspective, such as fishing pressure or coastal pollution, yet most continental seas experience a wide range of human pressures. Cumulative impact assessments have...... been developed to capture the consequences of multiple stressors for biodiversity, but the ability of these assessments to accurately predict biodiversity status has never been tested or ground-truthed. This relationship has similarly been assumed for the Baltic Sea, especially in areas with impaired...... status, but has also never been documented. Here we provide a first tentative indication that cumulative human impacts relate to ecosystem condition, i.e. biodiversity status, in the Baltic Sea. Thus, cumulative impact assessments offer a promising tool for informed marine spatial planning, designation...

BALTIC CONTAINER SHIPPING MARKET GOES GLOBAL

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Ernest Czermański

2016-03-01

Full Text Available This paper aims at summarizing the last period of the Baltic container shipping mar-ket’s development, especially after 2000. The author, taking especially into account changes that have occurred in 2010, ultimately demonstrate that through the analyzed changes, this market has become a global one - thus being shaped by global determinants influencing its further development. Author selected and analyzed some chosen, most important factors influencing future market development. Secondly, some chances and threats resulting from the described changes were presented, either for the entire market as a base for international trade of Baltic Sea Region countries, and for its actors, mainly shipping owners and operators acting as a supply side of the Baltic container market. Finally, author has tried to verify and questioned the doubts and strong concerns about the future of the Baltic container shipping, especially about the feeder services, as because there are real indications and arguments against these concern.

Paleolimnological reconstruction of environmental variability during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene in the south-east Baltic region

Science.gov (United States)

Kublitskiy, Iurii; Subetto, Dmitriy; Druzhinina, Olga; Kulkova, Marianna; Arslanov, Khikmatula

2016-04-01

The main goal of our research is the high-resolution reconstruction of environmental and climatic changes in SE Baltic region since the Last Glacial Maximum by palaeolimnological data. The 6 objects - lakes and peat-bogs, were studied since 2009 in the Kaliningrad region, Russian Federation. According to palaeolimnological studies of bottom sediments of the Kamyshovoe Lake (N 54°22,6`; E22°42,8`, 189 m a.s.l.), located in the Vishtynets Highland, the south-east part of Kaliningrad district, the environmental and climatic changes after the late glacial have been reconstructed. At that moment the radiocarbon and loss-on-ignition (LOI) data, geochemistry and diatom analysis for the whole sediment core, and pollen analyze for the bottom part of the core have been completed. According to the pollen data the Alleröd interstadial starts at 13 200 cal. yrs BP and is marked by the rising of birch and pine pollen. The transition to the Younger Dryas around 12 700 cal. yrs BP corresponds with the development of patches of shrublands in which light-demanding species, such as juniper, flourished and communities of steppe herbs. The late Preboreal is marked by the appearance of Populus and an increase of the role of grasses in the vegetation cover 11 300-11 100 cal. yrs BP (Druzinina et al., 2015). The Holocene climatic zones have been identified by LOI and geochemistry analyses. The Boreal period started about 10 200 cal. yrs BP, Atlantic around 9100 cal. yrs BP, Subboreal 5800 cal. yrs BP, and Subatlantic 3200 cal. yrs BP (Kublitskiy et al., 2015). During the conference the new palaeolimnological data of environmental variability during the late Pleistocene and Holocene in SE Baltic region will be presented. Acknowledgements The investigations have been granted by the Russian Fund for Basic Research (12-05-33013, 13-05-41457, 15-35-50721). References Druzhinina, O., Subetto, D., Stančikaitė, M., Vaikutienė, G., Kublitsky, J., Arslanov, Kh., 2015. Sediment record from the

Education in the Soviet Baltic Republics.

Science.gov (United States)

Soviet Education, 1981

1981-01-01

Includes 11 articles about education in the Soviet Baltic Republics. The articles include historical studies of Estonian and Latvian schools and medieval Estonian folk games. The impact of Marxist educational theories and Soviet policies on educational research, teacher education, and teaching methods in the Baltic region from 1920-50 is…

Introduction for the SI "Understanding the Baltic Sea"

Science.gov (United States)

Ikauniece, Anda; Markus Meier, H. E.; Kalniņa, Laimdota

2017-08-01

The Baltic Sea is a semi-enclosed sea with a low salinity, slow water exchange and distinguished stratification. Natural properties of the Baltic thus promote development of anoxic areas at the deepest parts of the sea. In addition, the coasts of the Baltic Sea are heavily populated - 85 million inhabitants living in the drainage basin and 9 countries surrounding the sea, most of them highly industrially developed. Anthropogenic activities consequently add considerable pressure on the already vulnerable environment of the sea. Eutrophication, over-fishing and changed food-web, oil pollution, occurrence of hazardous substances, damage of seafloor by trawling and construction works are all present in the Baltic Sea.

Grey seal predation on forage fish in the Baltic Sea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eero, Aro; Neuenfeldt, Stefan; Aho, Teija

The mean annual growth rate of grey seal stock in the Baltic has been on average 7.5% annually during the last decade. In 2010, a total of approximately 23 100 grey seals were counted. The increase in stock size was highest in the northern areas and the predation pressure of grey seals on clupeoids...... has increased accordingly. The diet of grey seal in the Baltic consists of ca. 20 fish species. The most abundant prey items in the Baltic proper are Baltic herring, sprat, and cod, and in the Bothnian Sea and Bothnian Bay Baltic herring, Coregonus sp., Baltic salmon, and sea trout. An adult seal...... consumes on average round 4.5 kg fish per day, of which 55% are clupeoids in the Baltic Main basin and 70% in the Bothnian Sea and Bothnian Bay. According to acoustic estimates, predator– prey distribution patterns, migration patterns, and multispecies analysis (SMS), the predation effect of grey seals...

On environmental problems in Poland

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hinkel, H.; Kenez, C.J.

1987-01-01

The book contains articles by five authors on the following subjects: General literature in German and Polish language on environmental problems in Poland; legal issues of environmental protection - laws for the protection and development of the environment; environmental health hazards - hazards at work; protection of the sea environment in the region of the Baltic Sea - pollution of the Baltic Sea; the water situation in Poland - the large-scale project 'Weichsel 2000'; the ecological situation of the lakes of Masovia; air pollution and its effects - the dying of Silesian forests; Chernobyl and the Polish reaction; the 27 ecologically endangered areas in Poland. (HSCH) [de

Radioactivity in the Baltic Sea, 1999-2006 HELCOM thematic assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Herrmann, J.; Ikaeheimonen, T.K.; Ilus, E.; Kanisch, G.; Luning, M.; Mattila, J.; Nielsen, S.P.; Osvath, I.; Outola, I.

2009-01-01

The report describes work carried out by HELCOM's (Helsinki Commission, Baltic Marine Environment Commission) project on the Monitoring of Radioactive Substances in the Baltic Sea (MORS-PRO) during the period 1999-2006. The main topics include: sources of man-made radioactivity in the Baltic Sea; levels of man-made radionuclides in seawater, sediments and biota; work on modelling and evaluations of the riks to man caused by radioactivity in the Baltic Sea; comparison of man-made radionuclides in the Baltic Sea with levels in other sea regions. The concequent recommendations and work on data quality are presented in the Appendix

The geology of the southeastern Baltic Sea: a review

Science.gov (United States)

Ūsaitytė, Daiva

2000-06-01

The Baltic Sea, particularly its southeastern part, is discussed in the paper. Investigations of regional character as well as specialized studies in the area are reviewed. General historical works are mentioned briefly. Previous surveys since the 1950s are presented by the subject studied. The compilation of geological structure of the SE Baltic Sea bottom and adjacent land of Balticum (Baltic States: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) is based on considerable amounts of summarized materials. The crystalline basement, sedimentary cover and Quaternary deposits are characterized in the comprehensive survey of geological structure. From a stratigraphical point of view, geological sequence of the platformal cover is comparatively complete: deposits of all geological systems (from the Archean to Cenozoic) are present in the Baltic Syneclise. Considering geotectonical cycles, the sedimentary cover of the syneclise is subdivided into four structural complexes. The thickness and distribution of Quaternary deposits are closely related to the recent bottom relief of the Baltic Sea that in turn is inherited from the Pre-Quaternary surface. Buried palaeo-valleys are characteristic of the Pre-Quaternary surface in the Baltic region and the Baltic Sea bottom. The Quaternary is characterized by layers of various geneses and by sharp changes of their thicknesses.

The Baltic policy of Germany and current international relations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Salikov Aleksey

2016-03-01

Full Text Available This article analyses the Baltic policy of united Germany from the 1990s until today. The authors set out to identify the significance of German-Baltic relations and the role of the Eastern policy in Russian-German relations. The method of dynamic comparison between the political and economic narrative in intergovernmental relations makes it possible to identify distinctive features of Germany’s Baltic policy in the context of current international relations. In particular, it is noted that Germany was most active in the Baltic region in the 1990s, when the country was establishing political, economic, and cultural ties with the new independent states. In the second half of the 1990s, Germany’s foreign policy became less intense. After the accession of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia to the EU and NATO in 2004, certain disagreements started to arise between Germany and the Baltics. It explains the lukewarm relations between them. The Ukraine events brought about a change in Germany’s regional policy. Despite Russia remaining one of the key economic and political counteractors, Germany, being a partner of the Baltics in the EU and NATO, cannot adopt a neutral position in the conflict of interests between the Baltics and Russia.

airBaltic claims to be subsidizing Ryanair

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

2010-01-01

Riia lennujaama väitel võlgneb airBaltic neile 3,5 miljoni euro väärtuses lennujaamatasusid ning annab lennufirma kohtusse. airBaltic on aga lennujaama diskrimineeriva käitumise tõttu pöördunud konkurentsiameti poole

People, lakes and seashores: Studies from the Baltic Sea basin and adjacent areas in the early and Mid-Holocene

Science.gov (United States)

Groß, Daniel; Zander, Annabell; Boethius, Adam; Dreibrodt, Stefan; Grøn, Ole; Hansson, Anton; Jessen, Catherine; Koivisto, Satu; Larsson, Lars; Lübke, Harald; Nilsson, Björn

2018-04-01

During the Early and Mid-Holocene significant changes in the ecology and socio-cultural spheres occurred around the Baltic Sea. Because of the underlying climatic changes and thus environmental alterations, the area was the scene for various cultural developments during the period under investigation. In the course of the melting of the glaciers at the end of the last Ice Age, isostatic and eustatic movements caused continual changes to the Baltic Sea basin. Changes in water level, however, affected not only the Early and Mid-Holocene coastlines, but also the whole Baltic Sea drainage system, including large lakes, rivers and watersheds in the hinterland were also dramatically impacted by these ecological changes. Prehistoric people were thus affected by changes in resource availability and reduction or enlargement of their territories, respectively. In order to evaluate the impact of changes in the water and land networks on the environment, resource availability, and human behaviour, and to reconstruct human responses to these changes, we pursue an interdisciplinary approach connecting environmental and archaeological research highlighted through different case studies.

Water quality management and climate change mitigation: cost-effectiveness of joint implementation in the Baltic Sea region

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nainggolan, Doan; Hasler, Berit; Andersen, Hans Estrup

2018-01-01

of contrasting strategies: single environmental objective management versus joint implementation strategy. The results show that implementing land-based measures with a sole focus on water quality (to meet the HELCOM's 2013 Baltic Sea Action Plan nutrient abatement targets) can produce climate change mitigation......This paper explores the scope for simultaneously managing nutrient abatement and climate change mitigation in the Baltic Sea (BS) region through the implementation of a selection of measures. The analysis is undertaken using a cost-minimisation model for the entire BS region, the BALTCOST model....... In the present research, the model has been extended to include greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions effects, enabling us to analyse the tradeoffs between cost-effective GHG and nutrient load reductions. We run the model for four different scenarios in order to compare the environmental and economic consequences...

Transfer-function modelling between environmental variation and mesozooplankton in the Baltic Sea [review article

Science.gov (United States)

Vuorinen, I.; Hänninen, J.; Kornilovs, G.

2003-12-01

Time series of freshwater runoff, seawater salinity, temperature and oxygen were used in transfer functions (TF) to model changes of mesozooplankton taxa in the Baltic Sea from the 1960’s to the 1990’s. The models were then compared with long term zooplankton monitoring data from the same period. The TF models for all taxa over the whole Baltic proper and at different depth layers showed statistically significant estimates in t-tests. TF models were further compared using parsimony as a criterion. We present models showing 1) r2 > 0.4, 2) the smallest residual standard error with the combination of exploratory variables, 3) the lowest number of parameters and 4) the highest proportional decrease in error term when the TF model residual standard error was compared with those of the univariate ARIMA model of the same response variable. Most often (7 taxa out of a total of 8), zooplankton taxa were dependent on freshwater runoff and/or seawater salinity. Cladocerans and estuarine copepods were more conveniently modelled through the inclusion of seawater temperature and oxygen data as independent variables. Our modelling, however, explains neither the overall increase in zooplankton abundance nor a simultaneous decrease found in the neritic copepod, Temora longicornis. Therefore, biotic controlling agents (e.g. nutrients, primary production and planktivore diets) are suggested as independent variables for further TF modelling. TF modelling enabled us to put the controlling factors in a time frame. It was then possible, despite the inherent multiple correlation among parameters studied to deduce a chain-of-events from the environmental controls and biotic feedback mechanisms to changes in zooplankton species. We suggest that the documented long-term changes in zooplankton could have been driven by climatic regulation only. The control by climate could be mediated to zooplankton through marine chemical and physical factors, as well as biotic factors if all of these

An Assessment of Risk and Risk Management Information Disclosure of Companies Listed in Nasdaq OMX Baltic and Euronext Brussels

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dalia Kolmatsui

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The main goal of this paper is to discuss theoretically and to evaluate empirically the differences of risk and risk management information disclosure (RRMID among companies listed in Nasdaq OMX Baltic and Euronext Brussels and to determine factors influencing such differences. The authors use analysis and systemization of scientific literature, induction, content analysis and coding procedure for risk and risk management information disclosure assessment, as well as correlation and regression analyses. The results suggest that companies listed in Euronext Brussels disclose more risk and risk management (RRM information; RRM related disclosures are more qualitative, focused on past or present events and have a neutral meaning in both markets. Companies also disclose more information about risks themselves than about risk management. Finally, only companies’ size and presence of audit committee are significant factors influencing RRMID.

Iodine Isotopes (129I and 127I) in the Baltic Proper, Kattegat, and Skagerrak Basins

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yi, P.; Aldahan, A.; Hansen, Violeta

2011-01-01

Radioactive anthropogenic pollution has raised concerns about the present and future environmental status of the semienclosed Baltic Sea. We here study the distribution and inventory of the anthropogenic radioactive 129I in water depth profiles collected from 16 sites in August 2006 and 19 sites ...

Trauma research in the Baltic countries: from political oppression to recovery.

Science.gov (United States)

Kazlauskas, Evaldas; Zelviene, Paulina

2016-01-01

The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of traumatic stress studies from the three Baltic countries-Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia-and reveal how specific social context contributes to the topics relevant in traumatic stress field in the region. Traumatic stress studies in the Baltic countries are closely related to the complicated history of the region. It was only since the restoration of independence of the Baltic States in the 1990s when traumatic stress studies could emerge. The start of the psychotraumatology in the Baltic States was inspired by the interest of the psychological effects of political violence. Four major topics in traumatic stress literature from the Baltic countries were identified in this article: political violence studies, epidemiology of trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), disaster studies, and developmental aspects of trauma. Traumatic events prevalence was reported between 70 and 75%, and PTSD prevalence range 2-7% in the Baltic countries. The interest in psychotraumatology in the Baltic countries is rising.

Air pollution abatement around the Baltic Sea. From a national to an international perspective

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kankaanpaeae, K.; Aittoniemi, P.; Kaessi, T. [IVO International Ltd, Vantaa (Finland)

1995-12-31

Environmental burden and environmental protection activities, together with the cost-effectiveness of emission reduction and the economic possibilities of financing the environmental investments, vary greatly between the countries around the Baltic Sea. The objective of this presentation is to outline solutions based on a new approach to emission reflection, larger than the national scale. Especially the applications of the recently introduced Joint Implementation (JI) principle will be discussed. The presentation mainly deals with the acidic sulphur dioxide (SO{sub 2}) emissions related to power production. (author)

Air pollution abatement around the Baltic Sea. From a national to an international perspective

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kankaanpaeae, K; Aittoniemi, P; Kaessi, T [IVO International Ltd, Vantaa (Finland)

1996-12-31

Environmental burden and environmental protection activities, together with the cost-effectiveness of emission reduction and the economic possibilities of financing the environmental investments, vary greatly between the countries around the Baltic Sea. The objective of this presentation is to outline solutions based on a new approach to emission reflection, larger than the national scale. Especially the applications of the recently introduced Joint Implementation (JI) principle will be discussed. The presentation mainly deals with the acidic sulphur dioxide (SO{sub 2}) emissions related to power production. (author)

On Russian/Nordic Investment Competition in the Baltic States

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olenchenko Vladimir

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The researchers often overlook the relationships between Russian and Nordic investment capital; and even less attention is paid to studying the competition between the two. Yet this subject can be of particular relevance to the areas that are geographically, historically and culturally close to both Russia and the Nordic countries. Thus, the aim of this article is to understand how the competition between Russian and Nordic capital investment is played out in the Baltic States. The study discusses the principles of Russian and Nordic investment in the Baltic, and suggests ways to regulate these relations. To this end, we compare the investment conditions created in the Baltic States for both Russian and Nordic investors. The analysis shows that most of the Baltic market is controlled by the Nordic capital, which blocks the arrival of Russian investment to the Baltic States. With a nod to a number of previous studies, the authors of this article suggest some adjustments to the theory of foreign direct investment. The study will be also of practical interest to those Russian investors who are seeking entry points to the Baltic markets.

Spatio-temporal variability in western Baltic cod early life stage survival mediated by egg buoyancy, hydrography and hydrodynamics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hinrichsen, H-H.; Hüssy, K.; Huwer, B.

2012-01-01

Spatio-temporal variability in western Baltic cod early life stage survival mediated by egg buoyancy, hydrography and hydrodynamics. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 69: 1744–1752.To disentangle the effects of different drivers on recruitment variability of marine fish, a spatially and temporally...... explicit understanding of both the spawning stock size and the early life stage dynamics is required. The objectives of this study are to assess the transport of western Baltic cod early life stages as well as the variability in environmentally-mediated survival along drift routes in relation to both...

Transborder corporate integration in the Baltic Sea Region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kuznetsov Alexei

2012-03-01

Full Text Available The paper examines flows of foreign direct investment within the Baltic region. The author demonstrates close investment ties among the EU members, which are of special importance for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Transborder corporate integration in the region is characterized by significant imbalances. In many aspects, it can be viewed as Sweden’s economic expansion or development of domestic markets for northern European companies. Although many German, Polish and Russian companies are involved in corporate integration in the Baltic region, other vectors of their foreign economic relations are still more important for them. As a result, the integration of Russian business in the Baltic part of the European integration area is still rather weak despite Russia’s considerable foreign direct investment in the Baltic States.

Technetium-99 in Fucus and seawater samples in the Finnish coastal area of the Baltic Sea, 1999

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ikaeheimonen, T.K.; Vartti, V.P.; Ilus, E.; Mattila, J.

2002-01-01

Liquid discharges of 99 Tc from the Sellafield nuclear facilities increased largely in the mid 90's. These releases are transported to the Nordic sea areas by the ocean currents. Results of the 99 Tc activities along the Norwegian coastal areas and in the North Sea have been reported but then again, the spreading of 99 Tc into Baltic Sea has not been studied thoroughly. Fucus vesiculosus and seawater samples were collected in the summer 1999 from the Finnish coastal areas for measuring 99 Tc in the Baltic Sea area. A modified analytical method for measuring 99 Tc in the environmental samples was developed at that time. The method based on extraction chromatography and liquid scintillation measurement of 99 Tc. The 99 Tc concentration in the Fucus vesiculosus in the Finnish coast of the Baltic Sea varied from 1.6 to 11.6 Bq/kg (dry weight) being highest at the most northern sampling sites. These values were considerable lower than those in the Danish and Norwegian coasts. The variation in the concentrations observed are probably due to biological factors. The 99 Tc concentration in the Baltic Sea water studied was below 0.2 Bq/m 3 . (author)

Estimating the effective nitrogen import: An example for the North Sea-Baltic Sea boundary

Science.gov (United States)

Radtke, H.; Maar, M.

2016-10-01

Semienclosed water bodies such as the Baltic Sea are prone to eutrophication problems. If local nutrient abatement measures are taken to tackle these problems, their success may be limited if a strong nutrient exchange with the adjacent waters exists. The quantification of this exchange is therefore essential to estimate its impact on the ecosystem status. At the example of the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, we illustrate that neither gross transports nor net transports of nutrients have a strong informative value in this context. Instead, we define an "effective import" as the import of nutrients which have not been inside the Baltic Sea before and estimate it in an ecological model with a nutrient-tagging technique. This effective import of bioreactive nitrogen from the Skagerrak to the Kattegat amounts to 103 kt/yr; from Kattegat to Belt Sea it is 54 kt/yr. The nitrogen exchange is therefore 30% stronger than other estimates, e.g., based on import in the deep water, suggest. An isolated view on the Baltic Sea and the North Sea in terms of eutrophication, as it is practiced in management today, is therefore questionable. Nitrogen imported from the North Sea typically spreads eastward up to the Bornholm Basin but can be transported into the deep waters of the Gotland Basin during Major Baltic Inflows in a significant amount.

[Experience of international cooperation among Baltic countries in occupational health and security].

Science.gov (United States)

Miloutka, E V; Andronova, E R; Dedkova, L E

2013-01-01

The article covers longstanding experience of international cooperation in occupational health and security with Baltic countries. The authors describe history of information network creation, its structure, objectives, importance for occupational health services and safety in the region.

Tectonic lineaments in the Baltic from Gaevle to Simrishamn

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Floden, T.

1977-12-01

The present report deals with the tectonic pattern within the offshore area of middle and SE Sweden. The study is restricted to the large scale pattern that can be detected by seismic reflection profiling. Neotectonic events are discussed in connection with the special study of echosounding and seismic records from the Baltic Sea. This report is mainly based on investigations performed during the period 1966-1976 by means of continuous seismic reflection profiling. The investigations were mainly concentrated to areas with a sedimentary rock cover and thus, there is a large discrepance in the amount of available information between different parts of the Baltic. In the coastal zone, only those tectonic lineaments that are of importance for the understanding of the offshore conditions are included in the present maps. References to other known lineaments are made in the text

NATO Policies in the Baltics: Objectives and Priorities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gribanova G. I.

2018-05-01

Full Text Available The authors employ geopolitical analysis to identify the core characteristics of NATO’s current policy towards the Baltic Sea region. After the demise of the Soviet Union, the region was considered as one of the safest in terms of military security. However, in the aftermath of the Ukraine crisis, the region has witnessed a growing tension in relations between NATO and the Russian Federation. A comparative analysis of NATO’s official documents on the Baltics shows that the chief pretext for increased military presence in the region is the alleged need to defend the Baltic states from the Russian threat. Special attention is paid to the attempts of Western military strategists to encourage the neutral Nordic states — Sweden and Finland — to accede to NATO. This would lead to the organisation’s northern enlargement. The current situation suggests that to ease tension in the Baltic Sea region Russia has not only to respond adequately to emerging military threats but also to launch an awareness campaign to explain its position and dispel the myth about Russia preparing to start a hybrid war against the Baltic States.

Arsenic in sediments from the southeastern Baltic Sea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garnaga, Galina; Wyse, Eric; Azemard, Sabine; Stankevicius, Algirdas; Mora, Stephen de

2006-01-01

Arsenic occurs as a persistent constituent in many of the chemical weapons dumped into the Baltic Sea; it can be used as an indicator of leakage and dispersal of released munitions to the marine environment. Total arsenic was analysed in sediment samples taken from the Lithuanian economic zone in the Baltic Sea, which included samples from the chemical munitions dumpsite in the Gotland Basin and national monitoring stations in the southeastern Baltic Sea. Arsenic concentrations in sediments ranged from 1.1 to 19.0 mg kg -1 , with an average of 3.4 mg kg -1 . Although there was evidence of slightly elevated arsenic content in sediments near the weapons dumpsite, arsenic concentrations were nevertheless quite low relative to other investigations in the Baltic and North Seas. - Arsenic concentrations in sediments near chemical weapons dumpsites were only slightly elevated

[History of German-Baltic relations in medicine].

Science.gov (United States)

Tankler, H; Laschinski, G; Roots, I

2004-04-30

Today, the three Baltic countries Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, have well-known medical faculties with international standing. Their individual histories are briefly outlined. However, relations of the German academic world were closest with the university of Dorpat (today: Tartu). It was re-opened in 1802 by tsar Alexander I in order to keep young Baltic people from studying abroad. The medical faculty was its biggest faculty. The university was Russian, but the official language was German. So many a German professor came to Dorpat and many professors from Dorpat were offered a chair at a German university. The scientific imports connected Dorpat with other centres of West-European science, they brought knowledge and ideas and an exchange of information. The standard was high, and among the teaching staff was a handsome number of medical celebrities, e.g. the anatomist August Rauber and the surgeon Ernst von Bergmann. In Dorpat, Rudolf Buchheim brought a new science, experimental pharmacology, into being, which his pupil and successor, Oswald Schmiedeberg, fully established and propagated all over the world.

Perspectives for RandD in Bioenergy in the Baltic States

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Holmberg, Rurik (Technopolis Group, Stockholm (Sweden) )

2009-11-15

This study has identified two almost contradictory trends regarding bioenergy in the Baltic States. On the one hand, RandD performed in bioenergy in the Baltic States is rather limited. This might be somewhat surprising, because on the other hand various forms of bioenergy are either already used on a large scale or are widely assumed to become important in the near future. Bioenergy is explicitly recognized in various policy plans as an important component of the energy system in all the Baltic States. Thus the limited RandD efforts raise a number of questions, which probably lack unequivocal answers, but which would be important to discuss in the Baltic States. In all three Baltic States, bioenergy has a major potential. The present trend with boiler houses using biomass in a district heating systems commenced in the 1990s with significant foreign support. Technology was mainly imported, but in some cases local producers have drawn upon these experiences and become producers in their own right. The result has been that the Baltic States have relatively well developed bioenergy technology in use in district heating. But perhaps more importantly, there is know-how and experience in the Baltic States from the use of bioenergy, which however needs to be constantly upgraded. Regarding interest groups, one question raised by some interviewees was whether the natural gas industry with Russian Gazprom as the key player has a bigger say in the energy policy of the Baltic States than officially admitted. Although this issue remains speculative, the question as such is justified and should not be omitted from the discussion. The interest groups behind bioenergy are relatively weak, at least in comparison with other interest groups in the energy sector. As long as the farmers' organizations are not unambiguously behind bioenergy, the political support for investments in developing new technology is likely to remain lukewarm. Cooperation between the Baltic States in

The dilemma in prioritizing chemicals for environmental analysis: known versus unknown hazards.

Science.gov (United States)

Anna, Sobek; Sofia, Bejgarn; Christina, Rudén; Magnus, Breitholtz

2016-08-10

A major challenge for society is to manage the risks posed by the many chemicals continuously emitted to the environment. All chemicals in production and use cannot be monitored and science-based strategies for prioritization are essential. In this study we review available data to investigate which substances are included in environmental monitoring programs and published research studies reporting analyses of chemicals in Baltic Sea fish between 2000 and 2012. Our aim is to contribute to the discussion of priority settings in environmental chemical monitoring and research, which is closely linked to chemical management. In total, 105 different substances or substance groups were analyzed in Baltic Sea fish. Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were the most studied substances or substance groups. The majority, 87%, of all analyses comprised 20% of the substances or substance groups, whereas 46 substance groups (44%) were analyzed only once. Almost three quarters of all analyses regarded a POP-substance (persistent organic pollutant). These results demonstrate that the majority of analyses on environmental contaminants in Baltic Sea fish concern a small number of already regulated chemicals. Legacy pollutants such as POPs pose a high risk to the Baltic Sea due to their hazardous properties. Yet, there may be a risk that prioritizations for chemical analyses are biased based on the knowns of the past. Such biases may lead to society failing in identifying risks posed by yet unknown hazardous chemicals. Alternative and complementary ways to identify priority chemicals are needed. More transparent communication between risk assessments performed as part of the risk assessment process within REACH and monitoring programs, and information on chemicals contained in consumer articles, would offer ways to identify chemicals for environmental analysis.

BALCOFISH - a BONUS+ project in the Baltic Sea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Strand, Jakob

The project BALCOFISH, acronym for "Integration of pollutant gene responses and fish ecology in Baltic coastal fisheries and management" is a newly started 3-years BONUS+-project funded by Baltic Organisations Network for Funding Science EEIG (www.bonusportal.org) with focus on contaminants...

Suitability of otolith microchemistry for stock separation of Baltic cod

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Heidemann, F; Marohn, L; Hinrichsen, HH

2012-01-01

differences between individuals from the eastern and the western Baltic Sea and between North Sea and Baltic Sea samples. Sr/Ca, Ba/Ca, Y/Ca, Mg/Ca, Zr/Ca and Mn/Ca ratios had the strongest discriminatory power. A further separation of individuals caught in 3 different spawning grounds of the eastern Baltic......, however, was not possible. Elemental compositions from the core regions of otoliths from young of the year cod caught in eastern and western Baltic Sea spawning grounds showed significant differences in Sr/Ca, Ba/Ca and Mg/Ca concentrations. Analyses of similarities again showed significant differences...

Rationale for restocking the Eastern Baltic cod stock

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Støttrup, Josianne; Overton, Julia Lynne; Paulsen, Helge

2008-01-01

The Danish Institute for Fisheries Research and Bornholm's Salmon Hatchery examined the potential for restocking Baltic cod (Gadus morhua callarias L.) in the eastern Baltic Sea. This cod population has adapted to the unique brackish water conditions where successful spawning depends on regular i...

Islamic Diffusion in the Baltics: The Fruit of European Multiculturalism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gladkiy Yu. N.

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This article considers Western Europe as a principal centre that has been attracting migrants over recent decades, primarily, in the aftermath of the Arab Spring. The Baltic region states are chosen for demonstration. Although they have different proportions of Muslim immigrants, Muslim diasporas are the most numerous and rapidly growing ones in the Baltics. Undoubtedly, Muslim communities across the region enjoy certain similarities. The differences they have are explained, among other factors, by national policies towards migrant integration. This article aims to identify the features of Muslim migration to the Baltic States in the aftermath of the Arab Spring. The authors analyse the timeline of Muslim immigration to the Baltic region. It is stressed that, despite current difficulties, Germany and Finland are more successful in integrating immigrants than, for instance, Sweden and Denmark. Just like other Western European countries, the Baltic States have not developed a conceptual framework for their migration and integration policies towards Muslim immigrants. The authors describe possible Muslim integration scenarios — the Singaporean and Palestinian ones, simulation, and confrontation. Given their apparent conscientious refusal to adapt and integrate migrants, the Baltic States are most likely to face the Palestinian scenario.

Modeling the combined impact of changing climate and changing nutrient loads on the Baltic Sea environment in an ensemble of transient simulations for 1961-2099

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Meier, H.E.M.; Hordoir, R.; Andersson, H.C.; Dieterich, C.; Hoeglund, A.; Schimanke, S. [Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, Department of Research and Development, Norrkoeping (Sweden); Eilola, K. [Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, Department of Research and Development, Vaestra Froelunda (Sweden); Gustafsson, B.G. [Stockholm University, Stockholm Resilience Centre, Baltic Nest Institute, Stockholm (Sweden)

2012-11-15

The combined future impacts of climate change and industrial and agricultural practices in the Baltic Sea catchment on the Baltic Sea ecosystem were assessed. For this purpose 16 transient simulations for 1961-2099 using a coupled physical-biogeochemical model of the Baltic Sea were performed. Four climate scenarios were combined with four nutrient load scenarios ranging from a pessimistic business-as-usual to a more optimistic case following the Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP). Annual and seasonal mean changes of climate parameters and ecological quality indicators describing the environmental status of the Baltic Sea like bottom oxygen, nutrient and phytoplankton concentrations and Secchi depths were studied. Assuming present-day nutrient concentrations in the rivers, nutrient loads from land increase during the twenty first century in all investigated scenario simulations due to increased volume flows caused by increased net precipitation in the Baltic catchment area. In addition, remineralization rates increase due to increased water temperatures causing enhanced nutrient flows from the sediments. Cause-and-effect studies suggest that both processes may play an important role for the biogeochemistry of eutrophicated seas in future climate partly counteracting nutrient load reduction efforts like the BSAP. (orig.)

The Baltic States in the EU: yesterday, today and tomorrow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grigas, Agnia; Kasekamp, Andres; Maslauskaite, Kristina; Buzek, Jerzy; Zorgenfreija, Liva

2013-07-01

2013 is a significant year for the Baltic states in their relations with European integration. On 1 July 2013, Lithuania became the first of the Baltic states to hold the rotating presidency of the EU Council of ministers. Its performance is closely watched by Latvia and Estonia, whose turns to hold the presidency come in 2015 and 2018, respectively. In addition, this year Latvia has been invited to join the Euro Area thus becoming the second Baltic state after Estonia to share the common currency. This Study aims to show that these developments are extremely important for the young and small Baltic states, which continue to aspire to secure their place in the European 'core'. Having emerged from the crisis as good students of internal devaluation, the Baltic states have a window of opportunity to voice their main concerns and priorities regarding the future of European integration. Lithuanian presidency puts an emphasis on more economic growth and credibility within the E(M)U as well as increased energy security, the challenges that have been daunting the Baltic states in the past years and decades. In order to better understand the origins and the significance of these priorities, this Study is divided into three distinct parts dealing with historical and political context of the three Baltic states (Part 1), the causes and consequences of the recent economic crisis (Part 2) and specific issues related to the energy policy in the region (Part 3)

The Nature of Russia’s Threat to NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence in the Baltic States

Science.gov (United States)

2017-12-01

Russia seeks to influence Rossotrudnichestvo, as well as citizens of the Baltic States through IW. Its goals are to erode faith in the legitimacy and...punishment. However, the Baltic States, and thereby NATO, remain vulnerable to Russian political and social influence by way of energy dependence, malign...state influence in the information sphere, and Estonia and Latvia’s own divisive citizenship policies. NATO’s ability to develop consensus on and

Dissent and Nationalism in the Soviet Baltic.

Science.gov (United States)

1983-09-01

Pius XII after he issued a decree ecommunicating Catholics who join the Communist Party. Only 19 of 800 Lithuanian priests were willing to sign...comparison-the form of the dissent has basic similarities that warrant a collective treatment. Baltic political dissent has generally focused on specific...PUBLIC PROTEST AND DEMONSTRATIONS Political dissent in the Baltic region takes two basic forms: open public protest and organized (often underground

Modelling PCB bioaccumulation in a Baltic food web

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nfon, Erick; Cousins, Ian T.

2007-01-01

A steady state model is developed to describe the bioaccumulation of organic contaminants by 14 species in a Baltic food web including pelagic and benthic aquatic organisms. The model is used to study the bioaccumulation of five PCB congeners of different chlorination levels. The model predictions are evaluated against monitoring data for five of the species in the food web. Predicted concentrations are on average within a factor of two of measured concentrations. The model shows that all PCB congeners were biomagnified in the food web, which is consistent with observations. Sensitivity analysis reveals that the single most sensitive parameter is log K OW . The most sensitive environmental parameter is the annual average temperature. Although not identified amongst the most sensitive input parameters, the dissolved concentration in water is believed to be important because of the uncertainty in its determination. The most sensitive organism-specific input parameters are the fractional respiration of species from the water column and sediment pore water, which are also difficult to determine. Parameters such as feeding rate, growth rate and lipid content of organism are only important at higher trophic levels. - The bioaccumulation behaviour of PCB congeners in a Baltic food web is studied using a novel mechanistic model

Eastern Baltic cod recruitment revisited—dynamics and impacting factors

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Köster, Fritz; Huwer, Bastian; Hinrichsen, Hans-Harald

2017-01-01

The Eastern Baltic cod abundance started rapidly to increase in the mid-2000s as evidenced by analytical stock assessments, due to increased recruitment and declining fishing mortality. Since 2014, the analytical stock assessment is not available, leaving the present stock status unclear and cast......The Eastern Baltic cod abundance started rapidly to increase in the mid-2000s as evidenced by analytical stock assessments, due to increased recruitment and declining fishing mortality. Since 2014, the analytical stock assessment is not available, leaving the present stock status unclear...... and casting doubts about the magnitude of the recent increase in recruitment. Earlier studies identified main factors impacting on cod reproductive success to be related to the loss of two out of three spawning areas in the 1980s caused by lack of major Baltic inflows with a concurrent reduction in salinity...... decade, as the period was characterized by an absence of large-scale Baltic inflows since 2003 and persistent anoxic conditions in the bottom water of the deep Baltic basins. This questions the perception of the increased recruitment in later years and challenges our present understanding of cod...

IODP expedition 347: Baltic Sea basin paleoenvironment and biosphere

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andrén, T; Jørgensen, Bo Barker; Cotterill, Carol

2015-01-01

-rich clay. Due to the stratified water column of the brackish Baltic Sea and the recurrent and widespread anoxia, the deeper basins harbor laminated sediments that provide a unique opportunity for high-resolution chronological studies. The Baltic Sea is a eutrophic intra-continental sea that is strongly...... degassing upon core recovery. The depth distributions of conservative sea water ions still reflected the transition at the end of the last glaciation from fresh-water clays to Holocene brackish mud. High-resolution sampling and analyses of interstitial water chemistry revealed the intensive mineralization......The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) expedition 347 cored sediments from different set- tings of the Baltic Sea covering the last glacial–interglacial cycle. The main aim was to study the geological development of the Baltic Sea in relation to the extreme climate variability of the region...

[Baltic connections : archival guide to the maritime relations of the countries around the Baltic Sea (including the Netherlands) 1450-1800)] / Enn Küng

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Küng, Enn

2009-01-01

Arvustus: Baltic connections : archival guide to the maritime relations of the countries around the Baltic Sea (including the Netherlands) 1450-1800). Leiden, Boston : Brill, 2007. Lisaks raamatule on arhiivijuht kättesaadav ka elektrooniliselt http://www.balticconnections.net/

Detail AR2-PR1 geochronological scale of the Baltic Shield

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Balashov, Yu.A.

1995-01-01

The version of the detail scale of the Precambrian Baltic Shield, based on selection of new crust increment through mantel genesis material is presented. The AR 2 -PR 1 -scale of the Baltic Shield is based through U-Pb, Rb-Sr and Sm-Nd-methods for the Cord Peninsula on the Precambrian period of the other Baltic Shield regions

Managing oil logistics around the Baltic Rim

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kilander, H.

1997-01-01

Finland's Neste Group is a major player in the oil business in the Baltic area. Neste tankers and petroleum product logistics services comprehensively serve the region. Neste's main Baltic Rim terminal outside Finland is located at Muuga close to the Estonian capital, Tallinn. This will be joined by one in Riga in Latvia at the end of this year. A terminal for St. Petersburg is in the planning stage

The diet of whiting Merlangius merlangus in the western Baltic Sea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ross, Stine Dalmann; Gislason, Henrik; Andersen, Niels Gerner

2016-01-01

The diet of whiting Merlangius merlangus in the western Baltic Sea was investigated and compared to the diet in the southern North Sea. Clupeids were important prey in both areas, but especially in the western Baltic Sea where they constituted up to 90% of the diet of larger individuals. Gobies......, brown shrimps and polychaetes were the main prey of juveniles in the western Baltic Sea, while a wider range of species were consumed in the North Sea. The shift to piscivory occurred at smaller sizes in the western Baltic Sea and the fish prey consumed was proportionately larger than in the southern...

Environmental consequence analyses of fish farm emissions related to different scales and exemplified by data from the Baltic--a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Gyllenhammar, Andreas; Håkanson, Lars

2005-08-01

The aim of this work is to review studies to evaluate how emissions from fish cage farms cause eutrophication effects in marine environments. The focus is on four different scales: (i) the conditions at the site of the farm, (ii) the local scale related to the coastal area where the farm is situated, (iii) the regional scale encompassing many coastal areas and (iv) the international scale including several regional coastal areas. The aim is to evaluate the role of nutrient emissions from fish farms in a general way, but all selected examples come from the Baltic Sea. An important part of this evaluation concerns the method to define the boundaries of a given coastal area. If this is done arbitrarily, one would obtain arbitrary results in the environmental consequence analysis. In this work, the boundary lines between the coast and the sea are drawn using GIS methods (geographical information systems) according to the topographical bottleneck method, which opens a way to determine many fundamental characteristics in the context of mass balance calculations. In mass balance modelling, the fluxes from the fish farm should be compared to other fluxes to, within and from coastal areas. Results collected in this study show that: (1) at the smallest scale (impact areas of fish cage farm often corresponds to the size of a "football field" (50-100 m) if the annual fish production is about 50 ton, (2) at the local scale (1 ha to 100 km2), there exists a simple load diagram (effect-load-sensitivity) to relate the environmental response and effects from a specific load from a fish cage farm. This makes it possible to obtain a first estimate of the maximum allowable fish production in a specific coastal area, (3) at the regional scale (100-10,000 km2), it is possible to create negative nutrient fluxes, i.e., use fish farming as a method to reduce the nutrient loading to the sea. The breaking point is to use more than about 1.1 g wet weight regionally caught wild fish per gram

BALTIC STATES IN THE EUROZONE: THE ACCESSION PROCESS AND RESULTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jarosław Wołkonowski

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The article analyses the process of the Baltic states’ accession to the eurozone and examines the consequences of their adoption of the euro currency. Although Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania joined the eurozone in different years, they share a number of common features in terms of both their accession process and presence in the euro area. The article consists of three parts – the first surveys the Baltic states’ conformity with the convergence criteria and the second examines the effects that can be observed in the economies of the three Baltic countries after accession. The third part contains a comparative analysis of actual inflation versus perceived inflation index seen over the three years spanning the periods before, during and after the adoption of the euro. For this purpose, calculations of simplified perceived inflation indices in the Baltic States were compiled and compared against actual inflation. The differences across the Baltic states between the perceived inflation index and real inflation were similar to those in Austria and Germany during these countries’ accession to the euro zone.

Implications of stock recovery for a neighbouring management unit: experience from the Baltic cod

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eero, Margit; Hansen, Jakob Hemmer; Hüssy, Karin

2014-01-01

Cod in the Baltic Sea is assessed and managed as two separate stocks, i.e. eastern and western Baltic cod. The eastern Baltic cod has recently started to recover after several decades of severe depletion. In the present study, we suggest that the recovery of the eastern Baltic cod population has ...

Baltic Consortium on Promoting Gender Equality in Marine Research Organisations (Baltic Gender)

Science.gov (United States)

Kısakürek Ibsen, Başak; Braun, Sarah; Heiskanen, Anna-Stiina; Kutser, Tiit; Stadmark, Johanna; Vaitkevičienė, Viktorija; Waniek, Joanna; Werner, Iris; Matthes, Katja

2017-04-01

Marine Science and Technology has been traditionally a male-dominated research field, with a significant lack of women in leadership positions. However, the whole intellectual capacity of men and women alike are needed to create innovative solutions for the sustainable use of marine resources in the face of major global challenges for the development of the marine environment. The EU-funded project, Baltic Gender (GA No. 710363), responds to this need for creating policies and implementing measures at the institutional level with the aim of harvesting the full human capital for the needs of marine research. The main goal of Baltic Gender is to help reduce gender segregation and gender inequalities in Marine Science and Technology. To this end, eight partner institutions from five countries in the Baltic Sea region (Estonia, Finland, Germany, Lithuania and Sweden) came together for the exchange of institutional practices as well as for the transfer of knowledge from institutions/countries leading in gender equality to those following. Baltic Gender will sow the seeds for long-lasting institutional practices by initiating schemes and strategies that promote gender equality in the partner institutions. These include, for instance: the founding of grass-root networks that support the career advancement of women; creating strategies for better reconciliation of work and family life of women and men; the review and improvement of institutional policies and practices with regard to gender balance, fairness and transparency; development of a method protocol for incorporating gender analysis into research projects or programmes of Marine Science and Technology; initiating gender focused training and mentoring in or across all partner institutions. The project will support the implementation of Gender Equality Plans (GEPs), which consist of a set of actions an institution commits to in order to identify any existing gender bias and to implement strategies to advance gender

The Baltic Republics and the Crisis of 2008-2011

NARCIS (Netherlands)

R. Kattel (Rainer); R. Raudla (Ringa)

2013-01-01

markdownabstract__Abstract__ This essay explores how the Baltic republics responded to the crisis of 2008-2011. We argue that while there are significant differences in how the Baltic economies responded to the crisis, these responses not only remain within the neo-liberal policy paradigm

Long-term changes in nutrients and mussel stocks are related to numbers of breeding eiders Somateria mollissima at a large Baltic colony.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karsten Laursen

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The Baltic/Wadden Sea eider Somateria mollissima flyway population is decreasing, and this trend is also reflected in the large eider colony at Christiansø situated in the Baltic Sea. This colony showed a 15-fold increase from 1925 until the mid-1990's, followed by a rapid decline in recent years, although the causes of this trend remain unknown. Most birds from the colony winter in the Wadden Sea, from which environmental data and information on the size of the main diet, the mussel Mytilus edulis stock exists. We hypothesised that changes in nutrients and water temperature in the Wadden Sea had an effect on the ecosystem affecting the size of mussel stocks, the principal food item for eiders, thereby influencing the number of breeding eider in the Christiansø colony. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDING: A positive relationship between the amount of fertilizer used by farmers and the concentration of phosphorus in the Wadden Sea (with a time lag of one year allowed analysis of the predictions concerning effects of nutrients for the period 1925-2010. There was (1 increasing amounts of fertilizer used in agriculture and this increased the amount of nutrients in the marine environment thereby increasing the mussel stocks in the Wadden Sea. (2 The number of eiders at Christiansø increased when the amount of fertilizer increased. Finally (3 the number of eiders in the colony at Christiansø increased with the amount of mussel stocks in the Wadden Sea. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The trend in the number of eiders at Christiansø is representative for the entire flyway population, and since nutrient reduction in the marine environment occurs in most parts of Northwest Europe, we hypothesize that this environmental candidate parameter is involved in the overall regulation of the Baltic/Wadden Sea eider population during recent decades.

Has eutrophication promoted forage fish production in the Baltic Sea?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eero, Margit; Andersson, Helén C; Almroth-Rosell, Elin

2016-01-01

Reducing anthropogenic nutrient inputs is a major policy goal for restoring good environmental status of coastal marine ecosystems. However, it is unclear to what extent reducing nutrients would also lower fish production and fisheries yields. Empirical examples of changes in nutrient loads...... and concurrent fish production can provide useful insights to this question. In this paper, we investigate to what extent a multi-fold increase in nutrient loads from the 1950s to 1980s enhanced forage fish production in the Baltic Sea. We use monitoring data on fish stock dynamics covering the period...

City of Helsinki and the evaluation of the Baltic Sea Challenge-actions; Helsingin kaupungin Itaemerihaaste-toimenpiteiden toteutumisen arviointi

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Harju, I.

2010-06-15

The Baltic Sea Challenge initiative was made in June 2007 by the mayors of the cities of Helsinki and Turku in order to improve the state of the Baltic Sea. Its objective is to influence the status of the water, both locally and throughout the Baltic Sea. In addition to the concrete water protection measures, the cities of Helsinki and Turku are also committed to increase international co-operation on the environment, investigation of water protection and to provide general information and assistance. The challenge for improving the state of the Baltic Sea has already been sent to approximately 750 actors. In December 2009 about 165 positive responses have been received, of which 60 are cities, municipalities and joint local authorities in Finland, whereas 12 of them are cities in other Baltic Sea countries The actions of the city of Helsinki for saving the Baltic Sea are reducing the amount of point source loading and diffuse source loading (agriculture and scattered settlements), dredging of contaminated sediments, reducing discharges from shipping and boating, international environment cooperation, research projects and establishment of a professorship, and increasing awareness about the state of the Baltic Sea. Administrative branches of the city carry out the Baltic Sea Challenge. The administrative branches of the city of Helsinki are Port of Helsinki, Helsinki Water, Real Estate Department, Sports Department, City Planning Department, Public Works Department, Administration Centres department in the international operations and Environment centre. In addition, also other entities were summoned to participate in the voluntary improvement of the Baltic Sea. These were government agencies and research institutions, NGOs (nongovernmental organization) and associations, companies, schools and other organisations. The aim of this research was to examine the city of Helsinki's own Baltic Sea Challenge-actions from 2007 to 2009. The study dealt with all seven

Regional cost-effectiveness in transboundary water quality management for the Baltic Sea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hasler, Berit; Smart, James Christopher Rudd; Fonnesbech-Wulff, Anders

In 2007 HELCOM launched a plan for transboundary management of the Baltic Sea. This plan, called the Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP), aims amongst other things, to reduce eutrophication in the different regions of the Baltic Sea by reducing incoming nutrient loads from all discharging drainage basins...... difficult to achieve, and that additional abatement measures are likely to be required to fulfil these targets. The minimised total cost of delivering the achievable load reductions across the 9 Baltic littoral countries is estimated to be 4.69 billion Euros, annually, with substantial differences...

Think - Baltic Extension / Kalle Kask

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Kask, Kalle

2002-01-01

Tallinna TÜ Rehabilitatsiooni tehnoloogia keskus korraldas pressikonverentsi, kus tutvustati osalemist EL V raamprogrammis Think - Baltic Extension, mis on suunatud puuetega inimeste tööhõive tagamisele

Spatio-temporal dynamics of cod nursery areas in the Baltic Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Hinrichsen, H.-H.; von Dewitz, B.; Lehmann, A.; Bergström, U.; Hüssy, K.

2017-06-01

In this study the drift of eastern Baltic cod larvae and juveniles spawned within the historical eastern Baltic cod spawning grounds was investigated by detailed drift model simulations for the years 1971-2010, to examine the spatio-temporal dynamics of environmental suitability in the nursery areas of juvenile cod settlement. The results of the long-term model scenario runs, where juvenile cod were treated as simulated passively drifting particles, enabled us to find strong indications for long-term variations of settlement and potentially the reproduction success of the historically important eastern Baltic cod nursery grounds. Only low proportions of juveniles hatched in the Arkona Basin and in the Gotland Basin were able to settle in their respective spawning ground. Ocean currents were either unfavorable for the juveniles to reach suitable habitats or transported the juveniles to nursery grounds of neighboring subdivisions. Juveniles which hatched in the Bornholm Basin were most widely dispersed and showed the highest settlement probability, while the second highest settlement probability and horizontal dispersal was observed for juveniles originating from the Gdansk Deep. In a long-term perspective, wind-driven transport of larvae/juveniles positively affected the settlement success predominately in the Bornholm Basin and in the Bay of Gdansk. The Bornholm Basin has the potential to contribute on average 54% and the Bay of Gdansk 11% to the production of juveniles in the Baltic Sea. Furthermore, transport of juveniles surviving to the age of settlement with origin in the Bornholm Basin contributed on average 13 and 11% to the total settlement in the Arkona Basin and in the Gdansk Deep, respectively. The time-series of the simulated occupied juvenile cod habitat in the Bornholm Basin and in the Gdansk Deep showed a similar declining trend as the Fulton's K condition factor of demersal 1-group cod, which may confirm the importance of oxygen-dependent habitat

Environmental information in Colombia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Velez S, Andres

2005-01-01

This article is a chapter from the paper, Elements for the description of an environmental information system, which was written by the author as a requirement for the degree of specialist on environment and Geoinformatics at the school of engineering. Universidad de Antioquia. The original paper attempted a description of the context and development of a particular environmental information system, built at the eastern region of Antioquia by CORNARE (a regional autonomous corporation for the environment and the natural resources). This article refers to the Colombian institutional context for environmental information. With particular emphasis laid on the strategic character that must be conceded to the administration of information. Towards the construction of equitable and sustainable development models under autonomous orientation an efficient and transparent environmental administration as is needed by such models is only attainable through the design and application of environmental information systems committed to the pursuit of collective interests. Here a balance is sought between accomplishments and failures reached during the long standing discussion held in Colombia around the formulation of public policies that acknowledge and strengthen the role of information as a cornerstone of environmental administration, and a contribution towards the goal of human sustainable development

The Baltic Region in U.S. Western Civilization Textbooks.

Science.gov (United States)

Mork, Gordon R.

1992-01-01

Evaluates six U.S. western civilization textbooks' treatment of the Baltic region. Reports that the books devote little or no attention to the region, emphasize larger nations, and ignore Baltic social history. Suggests that social histories may continue to neglect small countries, whereas reaction against "Eurocentrism" may result in…

Baltic Fibresi tekk katab Inglise kõrgklassi / Liis Kängsepp

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Kängsepp, Liis, 1981-

2005-01-01

Tekke ja patju valmistav ettevõte OÜ Baltic Fibres tegutseb alles viiendat aastat, kuid on saavutanud edu teiste padjatootjate seas. Vt. samas: Padjatootjate kasumi sõi liitumine ELiga. Lisa: Baltic Fibres areneb tekstiilituru liidrist Wendrest kiiremini

The radiological exposure of man from radioactivity in the Baltic Sea.

Science.gov (United States)

Nielsen, S P; Bengtson, P; Bojanowsky, R; Hagel, P; Herrmann, J; Ilus, E; Jakobson, E; Motiejunas, S; Panteleev, Y; Skujina, A; Suplinska, M

1999-09-30

A radiological assessment has been carried out considering discharges of radioactivity to the Baltic Sea marine environment since 1950. The sources of radioactivity that have been evaluated are atmospheric nuclear-weapons fallout, fallout from the Chernobyl accident in 1986, discharges of radionuclides from Sellafield and La Hague transported into the Baltic Sea, and discharges of radionuclides from nuclear installations located in the Baltic Sea area. Dose rates from man-made radioactivity to individual members of the public (critical groups) have been calculated based on annual intake of seafood and beach occupancy time. The dose rates to individuals from the regions of the Bothnian Sea and Gulf of Finland are predicted to be larger than from any other area in the Baltic Sea due to the pattern of Chernobyl fallout. The dose rates are predicted to have peaked in 1986 at a value of 0.2 mSv year-1. Collective committed doses to members of the public have been calculated based on fishery statistics and predicted concentrations of radionuclides in biota and coastal sediments. The total collective dose from man-made radioactivity in the Baltic Sea is estimated at 2600 manSv, of which approximately two-thirds originate from Chernobyl fallout, approximately one-quarter from atmospheric nuclear-weapons fallout, approximately 8% from European reprocessing facilities, and approximately 0.04% from nuclear installations bordering the Baltic Sea area. An assessment of small-scale dumping of low-level radioactive waste in the Baltic Sea in the 1960s by Sweden and the Soviet Union has showed that doses to man from these activities are negligible. Dose rates and doses from natural radioactivity dominate except for the year 1986 where dose rates to individuals from Chernobyl fallout in some regions of the Baltic Sea approached those from natural radioactivity.

Baltic financial markets attractive

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

2004-01-01

Tallinnas toimunud konverentsil East Baltic Summit tõdesid eksperdid, et Balti riikidel on välisinvestorite silmis positiivne maine. Esinejate hulgas olid Rootsi endine peaminister Carl Bildt, Baltimaade juhtivaid eksperte Bengt Dennis, investeerimispankur Rain Lõhmus, East Capitali president Peter Elam Hakansson

Sustainable manure management in the Baltic Sea Region - results, cases and project recommendations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tybirk, Knud; Luostarinen, S; Hamelin, Lorie

This magazine contains the major results, conclusions and recommendations of the project Baltic Forum for Innovative Technologies for Sustainable Manure Management (Baltic Manure) which via co-funding from Interreg Baltic Sea Region programme has been a Flagship project in the EU Strategy...

Multimission satellite altimetric data validation in the Baltic Sea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cheng, Yongcun; Andersen, Ole Baltazar; Knudsen, Per

2014-01-01

The assessment of altimetric data is crucial for investigating the regional sea level variability. Few works has been performed to validate the altimetric data [1, 2] in the Baltic Sea. The exploring of multi-mission altimetric data in the Baltic Sea has yet to be published. The number of available...

Weight-of-evidence approach in assessment of ecotoxicological risks of acid sulphate soils in the Baltic Sea river estuaries

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wallin, Jaana, E-mail: jaana.wallin@jyu.fi [Finnish Environment Institute SYKE, Survontie 9 A, FI-40500 Jyväskylä (Finland); Karjalainen, Anna K. [Finnish Environment Institute SYKE, Survontie 9 A, FI-40500 Jyväskylä (Finland); Schultz, Eija [Finnish Environment Institute SYKE, Hakuninmaantie 6, FI-00430 Helsinki (Finland); Järvistö, Johanna; Leppänen, Matti; Vuori, Kari-Matti [Finnish Environment Institute SYKE, Survontie 9 A, FI-40500 Jyväskylä (Finland)

2015-03-01

Acidity and leaching of metals from acid sulphate soils (ASSs) impair the water quality of receiving surface waters. The largest ASS areas in Europe are found in the coasts of the northern Baltic Sea. We used weight-of-evidence (WoE) approach to assess potential risks in 14 estuary sites affected by ASS in the Gulf of Finland, northern Baltic Sea. The assessment was based on exposure and effect profiles utilizing sediment and water metal concentrations and concurrent pH variation, sediment toxicity tests using the luminescent bacterium Vibrio fischeri and the midge Chironomus riparius, and the ecological status of benthic macroinvertebrate communities. Sediment metal concentrations were compared to national sediment quality criteria/guidelines, and water metal concentrations to environmental quality standards (EQSs). Hazard quotients (HQs) were established for maximum aluminium, cadmium and zinc concentrations at low pH based on applicable US EPA toxicity database. Sediment metal concentrations were clearly elevated in most of the studied estuaries. The EQS of cadmium (0.1 μg/l) was exceeded in 3 estuaries out of 14. The pH-minima were below the national threshold value (5.5) between good and satisfactory water quality in 10 estuaries. V. fischeri bioluminescence indicated toxicity of the sediments but toxic response was not observed in the C. riparius emergence test. Benthic invertebrate communities were deteriorated in 6 out of 14 sites based on the benthic invertebrate quality index. The overall ecotoxicological risk was assessed as low in five, moderate in three and high in five of the estuary sites. The risk assessment utilizing the WoE approach indicated that harmful effects of ASSs are likely to occur in the Baltic Sea river estuaries located at the ASS hotspot area. - Highlights: • Acid sulphate soils release high amounts of metals and acidity. • Metals and acidity are transported to estuary sites. • Acid sulphate soils impair the ecological status

Isotopic signatures of eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) as bioindicator of anthropogenic nutrient input in the western Baltic Sea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schubert, Philipp R.; Karez, Rolf; Reusch, Thorsten B.H.; Dierking, Jan

2013-01-01

Highlights: • Anthropogenic nitrogen (N) inputs are a global problem, but difficult to quantify. • We tested the use of eelgrass δ 15 N as proxy of such inputs in the Baltic Sea. • The method revealed distinct spatial patterns in sewage N across a eutrophic bay. • Traditional eutrophication measures corroborated the results from δ 15 N values. • Eelgrass δ 15 N ratios have high potential as proxy of sewage-derived N in the Baltic. -- Abstract: Eutrophication is a global environmental problem. Better management of this threat requires more accurate assessments of anthropogenic nitrogen (N) inputs to coastal systems than can be obtained with traditional measures. Recently, primary producer N isotopic signatures have emerged as useful proxy of such inputs. Here, we demonstrated for the first time the applicability of this method using the widespread eelgrass (Zostera marina) in the highly eutrophic Baltic Sea. Spatial availability of sewage N across a bay with one major sewage outflow predicted by eelgrass δ 15 N was high near and downstream of the outflow compared to upstream, but returned to upstream levels within 4 km downstream from the outfall. General conclusions were corroborated by traditional eutrophication measures, but in contrast to these measures were fully quantitative. Eelgrass N isotope ratios therefore show high potential for coastal screens of eutrophication in the Baltic Sea, and in other areas with eelgrass meadows

A novel modeling tool with multi-stressor functionality for organic contaminant transport and fate in the Baltic Sea

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Undeman, E., E-mail: emma.undeman@itm.su.se [Baltic Nest Institute, Baltic Sea Centre, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm (Sweden); Department of Applied Environmental Science, Stockholm University, 11418 Stockholm (Sweden); Gustafsson, E., E-mail: erik.gustafsson@su.se [Baltic Nest Institute, Baltic Sea Centre, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm (Sweden); Gustafsson, B.G., E-mail: bo.gustafsson@su.se [Baltic Nest Institute, Baltic Sea Centre, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm (Sweden)

2014-11-01

The coupled physical–biogeochemical model BALTSEM, previously used to assess nutrient/carbon cycles and eutrophication in the Baltic Sea, has been expanded to include algorithms for calculations of organic contaminant environmental transport and fate. This novel model version (BALTSEM-POP) is evaluated for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) in Baltic Sea surface water and sediment. Modeled dissolved concentrations are usually within a factor of 2–4 of observed concentrations, however with larger deviations for furans. Calculated concentrations in particulate organic matter are less accurate (within factors of 1–700), likely due to errors in estimated pelagic biomass, particulate matter–water partitioning, and large natural variability in field data. Concentrations in sediments are usually predicted within a factor of 6. The good performance of the model illustrates its usefulness for exploration of contaminant fate in response to variations in nutrient input and climatic conditions in the Baltic Sea marine environment. - Highlights: • A new model for organic chemical transport and fate in the Baltic Sea is presented. • Physical and biogeochemical processes are linked to organic contaminant transport. • The model is evaluated for PCBs, HCB and PCDD/Fs. • The model can predict dissolved concentrations within a factor of ca 2–4. • Predictions for concentrations in particulate matter and sediment are less accurate.

Habitat modelling limitations - Puck Bay, Baltic Sea - a case study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jan Marcin Węsławski

2013-02-01

Full Text Available The Natura 2000 sites and the Coastal Landscape Park in a shallow marine bay in the southern Baltic have been studied in detail for the distribution of benthic macroorganisms, species assemblages and seabed habitats. The relatively small Inner Puck Bay (104.8 km2 is one of the most thoroughly investigated marine areas in the Baltic: research has been carried out there continuously for over 50 years. Six physical parameters regarded as critically important for the marine benthos (depth, minimal temperature, maximum salinity, light, wave intensity and sediment type were summarized on a GIS map showing unified patches of seabed and the near-bottom water conditions. The occurrence of uniform seabed forms is weakly correlated with the distributions of individual species or multi-species assemblages. This is partly explained by the characteristics of the local macrofauna, which is dominated by highly tolerant, eurytopic species with opportunistic strategies. The history and timing of the assemblage formation also explains this weak correlation. The distribution of assemblages formed by long-living, structural species (Zostera marina and other higher plants shows the history of recovery following earlier disturbances. In the study area, these communities are still in the stage of recovery and recolonization, and their present distribution does not as yet match the distribution of the physical environmental conditions favourable to them. Our results show up the limitations of distribution modelling in coastal waters, where the history of anthropogenic disturbances can distort the picture of the present-day environmental control of biota distributions.

Baltic Exchange toodi Tallinna

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

2007-01-01

Viimane osa merekonteineritesse kokkupakitud Londoni laevandus- ja merebörsi Baltic Exchange'i endise peakorteri detailidest jõudis 2007. a. juunis Tallinna. Hoone detailid ostnud ärimehed Heiti Hääl ja Eerik-Niiles Kross plaanivad leida hoonele koha Tallinna kesklinnas. E.-N. Krossi kommentaar

The transnational territorial transport system of the Baltic Region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gumenyuk Ivan

2012-03-01

Full Text Available In this paper we focus on the structure and territorial borders of the Baltic Sea region, and examine the key structural elements of the transnational territorial transport system. In this respect, we clarify some terms used in transport geography. For the first time the transport system gets territorially localized, which allows for a broad range of new studies of transnational transportation in the Baltic Sea area. We also identify the main principles of development and operation of international territorial transport systems and present them taking the Baltic Sea region as an example. Our findings, we hope, will have a great practical application for researchers of transport geography, especially those studying international logistics.

Coccolithophores and calcite saturation state in the Baltic and Black Seas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. Tyrrell

2008-04-01

Full Text Available The Baltic and Black Seas are both brackish, that is to say both have salinities intermediate between freshwater and seawater. The coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi is abundant in one, the Black Sea, but absent from the other, the Baltic Sea. Here we present summertime coccolithophore measurements confirming this difference, as well as data on the calcium carbonate saturation state of the Baltic Sea. We find that the Baltic Sea becomes undersaturated (or nearly so in winter, with respect to both the aragonite and calcite mineral forms of CaCO₃. Data for the Black Sea are more limited, but it appears to remain strongly supersaturated year-round. The absence of E. huxleyi from the Baltic Sea could therefore potentially be explained by dissolution of their coccoliths in winter, suggesting that minimum annual (wintertime saturation states could be most important in determining future ocean acidification impacts. In addition to this potential importance of winter saturation state, alternative explanations are also possible, either related to differences in salinity or else to differences in silicate concentrations.

Parimad suhtekorraldusteod konkursil Baltic PR Awards

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

2012-01-01

Balti riikide suhtekorraldusliidud koostöös Rahvusvahelise Avalike Suhete Assotsiatsiooniga (IPRA) korraldavad 2001. aastast iga aasta kommunikatsioonijuhtimisalast auhinnakonkurssi Baltic PR Awards

Kas Baltic Talks on oma missiooni täitnud? / Tiit Meren

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Meren, Tiit

2006-01-01

21.-24. septembril toimus Tapal Läänemere-äärsete riikide reservohvitseride traditsiooniline suurfoorum Baltic Talks 2006. 1931. aastal Norra ja Rootsi reservohvitseride algatatud Nording Meeting ning Baltic Talks'i algus

Artistic Alliances and Revolutionary Rivalries in the Baltic Art World, 1890-1914

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bart Pushaw

2016-11-01

Full Text Available In the areas now known as Estonia and Latvia, art remained a matter for the Baltic German minority throughout the nineteenth century. When ethnic Estonian and Latvian artists gained prominence in the late 1890s, their presence threatened Baltic German hegemony over the region’s culture. In 1905, revolution in the Russian Empire spilled into the Baltic Provinces, sparking widespread anti-German violence. The revolution also galvanized Latvian and Estonian artists towards greater cultural autonomy and independence from Baltic German artistic institutions. This paper argues that the situation for artists before and after the 1905 revolution was not simply divisive along ethnic lines, as some nationalist historians have suggested. Instead, this paper examines how Baltic German, Estonian and Latvian artists oscillated between common interests, inspiring rivalries, and politicized conflicts, questioning the legitimacy of art as a universalizing language in multicultural societies.

The Baltic Sea as a time machine for the future coastal ocean

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Reusch, Thorsten B. H.; Dierking, Jan; Andersson, Helen C.

2018-01-01

Coastal global oceans are expected to undergo drastic changes driven by climate change and increasing anthropogenic pressures in coming decades. Predicting specific future conditions and assessing the best management strategies to maintain ecosystem integrity and sustainable resource use are diff......Coastal global oceans are expected to undergo drastic changes driven by climate change and increasing anthropogenic pressures in coming decades. Predicting specific future conditions and assessing the best management strategies to maintain ecosystem integrity and sustainable resource use...... are difficult, because of multiple interacting pressures, uncertain projections, and a lack of test cases for management. We argue that the Baltic Sea can serve as a time machine to study consequences and mitigation of future coastal perturbations, due to its unique combination of an early history...... of multistressor disturbance and ecosystem deterioration and early implementation of cross-border environmental management to address these problems. The Baltic Sea also stands out in providing a strong scientific foundation and accessibility to long-term data series that provide a unique opportunity to assess...

IODP expedition 347: Baltic Sea basin paleoenvironment and biosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Andrén, T.; Barker Jørgensen, B.; Cotterill, C.; Green, S.; IODP expedition 347 scientific party, the

2015-12-01

The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) expedition 347 cored sediments from different settings of the Baltic Sea covering the last glacial-interglacial cycle. The main aim was to study the geological development of the Baltic Sea in relation to the extreme climate variability of the region with changing ice cover and major shifts in temperature, salinity, and biological communities. Using the Greatship Manisha as a European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling (ECORD) mission-specific platform, we recovered 1.6 km of core from nine sites of which four were additionally cored for microbiology. The sites covered the gateway to the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean, several sub-basins in the southern Baltic Sea, a deep basin in the central Baltic Sea, and a river estuary in the north. The waxing and waning of the Scandinavian ice sheet has profoundly affected the Baltic Sea sediments. During the Weichselian, progressing glaciers reshaped the submarine landscape and displaced sedimentary deposits from earlier Quaternary time. As the glaciers retreated they left a complex pattern of till, sand, and lacustrine clay, which in the basins has since been covered by a thick deposit of Holocene, organic-rich clay. Due to the stratified water column of the brackish Baltic Sea and the recurrent and widespread anoxia, the deeper basins harbor laminated sediments that provide a unique opportunity for high-resolution chronological studies. The Baltic Sea is a eutrophic intra-continental sea that is strongly impacted by terrestrial runoff and nutrient fluxes. The Holocene deposits are recorded today to be up to 50 m deep and geochemically affected by diagenetic alterations driven by organic matter degradation. Many of the cored sequences were highly supersaturated with respect to methane, which caused strong degassing upon core recovery. The depth distributions of conservative sea water ions still reflected the transition at the end of the last glaciation from fresh-water clays to

Baltic States in NATO: Results of the Decade

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vladislav V. Vorotnikov

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In the post-Soviet period participation in NATO was one of the major goals of euro-atlantic integration for the Baltic states. Political leaders of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have considered participation in the alliance as an important element of euro-atlantic solidarity which allows small - from all viewpoints - states claim decision-making over global issues. This satisfies demands of the political elites and victimized public consciousness for more security, makes it possible for elites to consider their states as bulwark against Russia. Throughout the whole decade, such reasoning has been reflected in doctrines and speeches of Baltic politicians. After joining NATO, the Baltic states became the most active supporters of a deeper integration in the military area and "open door" policy. They have continued reforming their armed forces and renovating military infrastructure. They have acquired "specialization" within NATO by establishing centers of excellence. In terms of euro-atlantic solidarity, the participation in the International Security Assistance Force in Afganistan has become the most important international project for the Baltic states. However, only Estonia managed to mount their defence expenses to the level of 2% GDP. During the „Ukranian crisis" the issue of Baltic membership in NATO acquired special importance. Confrontational rhetoric and appeals to "Russian threat" in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, on the one hand, make it possible for their political leaders to constantly demonstrate their importance in the eyes of Western partners and demand more activity of the alliance and, on the other hand, make ground for the political elites to consolidate the electorate, by that ensuring that the right-wing conservative forces remain in power.

Predation by crustaceans on native and non-native Baltic clams

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ejdung, G.; Flach, E.; Byrén, L.; Hummel, H.

2009-01-01

We studied the effect of crustacean predators on native/non-native Macoma balthica bivalves in aquarium experiments. North Sea M. balthica (NS Macoma) were recently observed in the southern Baltic Sea. They differ genetically and in terms of morphology, behaviour and evolutionary history from Baltic

Groundfish overfishing, diatom decline, and the marine silica cycle: Lessons from Saanich Inlet, Canada, and the Baltic Sea cod crash

Science.gov (United States)

Katz, Timor; Yahel, Gitai; Yahel, Ruthy; Tunnicliffe, Verena; Herut, Barak; Snelgrove, Paul; Crusius, John; Lazar, Boaz

2009-12-01

In this study, we link groundfish activity to the marine silica cycle and suggest that the drastic mid-1980s crash of the Baltic Sea cod (Gadus morhua) population triggered a cascade of events leading to decrease in dissolved silica (DSi) and diatom abundance in the water. We suggest that this seemingly unrelated sequence of events was caused by a marked decline in sediment resuspension associated with reduced groundfish activity resulting from the cod crash. In a study in Saanich Inlet, British Columbia, Canada, we discovered that, by resuspending bottom sediments, groundfish triple DSi fluxes from the sediments and reduce silica accumulation therein. Using these findings and the available oceanographic and environmental data from the Baltic Sea, we estimate that overfishing and recruitment failure of Baltic cod reduced by 20% the DSi supply from bottom sediments to the surface water leading to a decline in the diatom population in the Baltic Sea. The major importance of the marginal ocean in the marine silica cycle and the associated high population density of groundfish suggest that groundfish play a major role in the silica cycle. We postulate that dwindling groundfish populations caused by anthropogenic perturbations, e.g., overfishing and bottom water anoxia, may cause shifts in marine phytoplankton communities.

Coastal Dunes of the Baltic Sea Shores: A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Łabuz Tomasz Arkadiusz

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The article summarises results of studies conducted along the Baltic Sea sandy coasts by scientists involved in coastal dune research, and presents an attempt to describe the types and distribution of dune coasts. The Baltic Sea coasts feature lower and higher foredunes. The lowland behind the coastal dune belt is covered by wandering or stabilised inland dunes – transgressive forms, mainly parabolic or barchans. The source of sediment for dune development includes fluvioglacial sands from eroded coasts, river-discharged sand, and older eroded dunes. Due to the ongoing erosion and coastal retreat, many dunes have been eroded, and some are withdrawing onto the adjacent land. There are visible differences between the south-eastern, western, and northern parts of the Baltic Sea coast with respect to dune development. The entire southern and eastern coast abounds in sand, so the coastal dunes are large, formerly or currently wandering formations. The only shifting dunes are found at the Polish and the Russian–Lithuanian coasts on the Łebsko Lake Sandbar as well as on the Vistula and Curonian Spits. The very diverse shoreline of the south-western coast experiences a scarcity of larger sandy formations. Substantial parts of the Baltic Sea sandy coasts have been eroded or transformed by humans. The northern part of the Baltic Sea coast features mainly narrow and low sandy coasts (e.g. in Estonia. Further north, sandy dunes are virtually absent.

Monitoring of radionuclides in the Baltic Sea in 1988

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saxen, R.; Ikaeheimonen, T.K.; Ilus, E.

1989-12-01

Monitoring of radioactive substances in the Baltic Sea was continued within the framework of the Finnish national monitoring programme. Samples of sea water, bottom sediment and fish were collected for radionuclide analyses. All samples were analysed for gamma-emitting radionuclides and partly also for 90 Sr and transuranic elements. The activity concentrations of 137 Cs were about 120 Bq/m 3 in the surface water of the Bothnian Bay, 220-320 Bq/m 3 in the Bothnian Sea, 120-230 Bq/m 3 in the Gulf of Finland and 150-170 Bq/m 3 in the Baltic Proper. In the open Gulf of Finland and Bothnian Sea the 137 Cs concentrations of surface water were about 20 and 55 % of the maximum values in 1986. The total amounts of 137 Cs in bottom sediments ranged from 1700 to 16000 Bq/m 2 . In the Gulf of Bothnia and Gulf of Finland the total amounts of 137 Cs were about 5-6 times higher in 1988 than before the Chernobyl accident and 3 times higher in the northern Baltic Proper. The 137 Cs concentrations in Baltic herring ranged from 20 to 37 Bq/kg fresh weight and in pike from 38 to 160 Bq/kg fresh weight, the maximum values being in samples supplied from the Vaasa archipelago. The internal radiation dose to Finnish people caused by the consumption of Baltic Sea fish in 1988 was about 0.009mSv. (orig.)

FDI in small accession countries: The Baltic states

OpenAIRE

Hunya, Gábor

2004-01-01

Analysing the evolution and determinants of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, this paper argues that sound economic policies have created an environment conducive for FDI. Overall, FDI has contributed to economic growth in the Baltic economies, having financed around one-fifth of fixed investment. However, their small size makes the Baltic countries relatively less attractive for market-seeking FDI in manufacturing. Moreover, at the outset of transition, their ...

Benthic communities in chemical munitions dumping site areas within the Baltic deeps with special focus on nematodes

Science.gov (United States)

Kotwicki, Lech; Grzelak, Katarzyna; Bełdowski, Jacek

2016-06-01

Assessment of biological effects of chemical warfare agents (CWAs) dumped in the Baltic Sea has been one of the tasks of the Chemical Munitions Search & Assessment (CHEMSEA) project. Three sites have been selected for investigation: Bornholm Deep, Gotland Deep and Gdansk Deep. Fauna collected from these locations were compared with the reference area located between the studied regions at similar depths below 70 m. In total, four scientific cruises occurred in different seasons between 2011 and 2013. The total lack of any representatives of macrozoobenthos in all of the investigated dumping sites was noted. As a practical matter, the Baltic deeps were inhabited by nematodes as the only meiofauna representatives. Therefore, nematodes were used as a key group to explore the faunal communities inhabiting chemical dumping sites in the Baltic deeps. In total, 42 nematode genera belonging to 18 families were identified, and the dominant genus was Sabatieria (Comesomatidae), which constituted 37.6% of the overall nematode community. There were significant differences in nematode community structure (abundance and taxa composition) between the dumping areas and the reference site (Kruskal-Wallis H=30.96, pnematode assemblages could mirror the environmental conditions.

Hypoxia and cyanobacteria blooms - are they really natural features of the late Holocene history of the Baltic Sea?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Zillén

2010-08-01

Full Text Available During the last century (1900s industrialized forms of agriculture and human activities have caused eutrophication of Baltic Sea waters. As a consequence, the hypoxic zone in the Baltic Sea has increased, especially during the last 50 years, and has caused severe ecosystem disturbance. Climate forcing has been proposed to be responsible for the reported trends in hypoxia (< 2 mg/l O₂ both during the last c. 100 years (since c. 1900 AD and the Medieval Period. By contrast, investigations of the degree of anthropogenic forcing on the ecosystem on long time-scales (millennial and greater have not been thoroughly addressed. This paper examines evidence for anthropogenic disturbance of the marine environment beyond the last century through the analysis of the human population growth, technological development and land-use changes in the drainage area. Natural environmental changes, i.e. changes in the morphology and depths of the Baltic basin and the sills, were probably the main driver for large-scale hypoxia during the early Holocene (8000–4000 cal yr BP. We show that hypoxia during the last two millennia has followed the general expansion and contraction trends in Europe and that human perturbation has been an important driver for hypoxia during that time. Hypoxia occurring during the Medieval Period coincides with a doubling of the population (from c. 4.6 to 9.5 million in the Baltic Sea watershed, a massive reclamation of land in both established and marginal cultivated areas and significant increases in soil nutrient release. The role of climate forcing on hypoxia in the Baltic Sea has yet to be demonstrated convincingly, although it could have helped to sustain hypoxia through enhanced salt water inflows or through changes in hydrological inputs. In addition, cyanobacteria blooms are not natural features of the Baltic Sea as previously deduced, but are a consequence of enhanced phosphorus release from the seabed that occurs during

Eutrophication assessment of the Baltic Sea Protected Areas by available data and GIS technologies.

Science.gov (United States)

Ranft, Susanne; Pesch, Roland; Schröder, Winfried; Boedeker, Dieter; Paulomäki, Hanna; Fagerli, Hilde

2011-01-01

Concerning increased degradation of marine ecosystems, there is a great political and institutional demand for an array of different tools to restore a good environmental status. Thereby, eutrophication is acknowledged as one of the major human induced stressors which has to be monitored and reduced. The present study concentrates on an assessment of the eutrophication status of the Baltic Sea Protected Areas by use of available data and GIS technologies. Two geodata layers were used for analysis: (1) a map on the eutrophication status of the Baltic Sea generated by the Helsinki Commission applying the HELCOM Eutrophication Assessment Tool (HEAT), and (2) modelled data on atmospheric nitrogen deposition made available by the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP). The results yielded comprehensive and conclusive data indicating that most of the BSPAs may be classified as being 'affected by eutrophication' and underlining the need to decrease the overall emissions of nutrients. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Phosphorus recycling and burial in Baltic Sea sediments with contrasting redox conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mort, Haydon P; Slomp, Caroline P; Gustafson, Bo G

2010-01-01

. Most burial of P takes place as organic P. We find no evidence for significant authigenic Ca–P formation or biogenic Ca–P burial. The lack of major inorganic P burial sinks makes the Baltic Sea very sensitive to the feedback loop between increased hypoxia, enhanced regeneration of P and increased......In this study, redox-dependent phosphorus (P) recycling and burial at 6 sites in the Baltic Sea is investigated using a combination of porewater and sediment analyses and sediment age dating (210Pb and 137Cs). We focus on sites in the Kattegat, Danish Straits and Baltic Proper where present...... be accounted for in budgets and models for the Baltic Sea....

Fifth Baltic Sea pollution load compilation (PLC-5). An executive summary

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Svendsen, L.M.; Staaf, H.; Pyhala, M.; Kotilainen, P.; Bartnicki, J.; Knuuttila, S.; Durkin, M.

2012-07-01

This report summarizes and combines the main results of the Fifth Baltic Sea Pollution Load Compilation (HELCOM 2011) which covers waterborne loads to the sea and data on atmospheric loads which are submitted by countries to the co-operative programme for monitoring and evaluation of the long range transmission of air pollutants in Europe (EMEP), which subsequently compiles and reports this information to HELCOM.

Monitoring of radionuclides in the Baltic Sea in 1989-1990

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ilus, E.; Sjoeblom, K.L.; Ikaeheimonen, T.; Saxen, R.; Klemola, S.

1993-02-01

Monitoring of radioactive substances in the Baltic Sea continued within the framework of the Finnish national monitoring programme. Samples of sea water, bottom sediment and fish were collected for radionuclide analyses. All samples were analysed for gamma-emitting radionuclides and some also for 90 Sr and transuranic elements. The general levelling of Chernobyl derived 137 Cs and 134 Cs in the water mass of the Baltic Sea, which had started soon after the fallout situation, continued in 1989. The activity concentration of 137 Cs was about the same level (120-160 Bq/m 3 ) in surface water throughout the Baltic Sea area except in some coastal areas. The cesium concentrations had levelled vertically as well as horizontally. In 1990, the cesium concentrations of surface water decreased further in other sea areas, but not in the Bothnian Sea, where somewhat higher values were detected once more. In bottom sediments the total amounts of 137 Cs had clearly increased between 1988 and 1990 which indicates that fresh fallout was still settling on the bottom. No increase was found in the total amounts of 239 , 240 Pu. Small amounts of 60 Co were detected in the surface sediment of our sampling station in the Northern Baltic proper. 137 Cs concentrations in Baltic herring ranged from 17 to 32 Bq/kg fresh weight and pike from 22 to 290 Bq/kg fresh weight, the maximum values being in the samples supplied from the Vaasa archipelago. The internal radiation dose received by Finns from eating Baltic Sea fish was 0.01mSv both in 1989 and in 1990. (orig.)

Baltijskaja Evropa: ot idei k strategii [From the idea to the strategy of Baltic Europe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Palmowski Tadeusz

2009-01-01

Full Text Available This article focuses on the historic prerequisites and forms of international cooperation in the Baltic region (“Baltic cooperation”. According to the author, Baltic Europe is being formed as a single administrative, economic, cultural and infrastructural area, which could become a new economic and cultural center of Europe. Special emphasis is given to policies and strategies of the EU in the Baltic Sea region.

An Earth System Science Program for the Baltic Sea Region

Science.gov (United States)

Meier, H. E. M.; Rutgersson, A.; Reckermann, M.

2014-04-01

From Russia in the east to Sweden, Denmark, and Germany in the west, reaching south to the tips of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Ukraine, the Baltic Sea watershed drains nearly 20% of Europe (see Figure 1). In the highly populated south, the temperate climate hosts intensive agriculture and industry. In the north, the landscape is boreal and rural. In the Baltic Sea itself, complex bathymetry and stratification patterns as well as extended hypoxic and anoxic deep waters add to the diversity. Yet in recent history, the differences across the Baltic Sea region have been more than physical: In the mid-20th century, the watershed was split in two.

Hypoxia is increasing in the coastal zone of the Baltic Sea.

Science.gov (United States)

Conley, Daniel J; Carstensen, Jacob; Aigars, Juris; Axe, Philip; Bonsdorff, Erik; Eremina, Tatjana; Haahti, Britt-Marie; Humborg, Christoph; Jonsson, Per; Kotta, Jonne; Lännegren, Christer; Larsson, Ulf; Maximov, Alexey; Medina, Miguel Rodriguez; Lysiak-Pastuszak, Elzbieta; Remeikaité-Nikiené, Nijolé; Walve, Jakob; Wilhelms, Sunhild; Zillén, Lovisa

2011-08-15

Hypoxia is a well-described phenomenon in the offshore waters of the Baltic Sea with both the spatial extent and intensity of hypoxia known to have increased due to anthropogenic eutrophication, however, an unknown amount of hypoxia is present in the coastal zone. Here we report on the widespread unprecedented occurrence of hypoxia across the coastal zone of the Baltic Sea. We have identified 115 sites that have experienced hypoxia during the period 1955-2009 increasing the global total to ca. 500 sites, with the Baltic Sea coastal zone containing over 20% of all known sites worldwide. Most sites experienced episodic hypoxia, which is a precursor to development of seasonal hypoxia. The Baltic Sea coastal zone displays an alarming trend with hypoxia steadily increasing with time since the 1950s effecting nutrient biogeochemical processes, ecosystem services, and coastal habitat.

South Baltic Wind Atlas

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pena Diaz, Alfredo; Hahmann, Andrea N.; Hasager, Charlotte Bay

A first version of a wind atlas for the South Baltic Sea has been developed using the WRF mesoscale model and verified by data from tall Danish and German masts. Six different boundary-layer parametrization schemes were evaluated by comparing the WRF results to the observed wind profiles at the m...

The radiological exposure of man from ingestion of Cs-137 and Sr-90 in seafood from the Baltic Sea. Pilot project: Marina-Balt

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nielsen, S.P. [Risoe National Lab., Roskilde (Denmark); Oehlenschlaeger, M. [National Institute of Radiation Hygiene, Broenshoej (Denmark); Karlberg, O. [Swedish Radiation Protection Institute, Stockholm (Sweden)

1995-04-01

This report describes a limited radiological assessment of the collective doses to man from the intake of seafood from the Baltic Sea contaminated with the radionuclides Cs-137 and Sr-90. Information on fisheries statistics is presented. The most important source terms to radioactive contamination of Cs-137 and Sr-90 in the Baltic Sea are identified and quantified. A compartment model for the dispersion of radionuclides in European coastal waters including the Baltic Sea is described and tested by comparing model predictions with observations. Collective doses are calculated with the model for each of the source-term categories. (au) (11 tabs., 28 ills., 17 refs.).

The radiological exposure of man from ingestion of Cs-137 and Sr-90 in seafood from the Baltic Sea. Pilot project: Marina-Balt

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nielsen, S.P.; Oehlenschlaeger, M.; Karlberg, O.

1995-04-01

This report describes a limited radiological assessment of the collective doses to man from the intake of seafood from the Baltic Sea contaminated with the radionuclides Cs-137 and Sr-90. Information on fisheries statistics is presented. The most important source terms to radioactive contamination of Cs-137 and Sr-90 in the Baltic Sea are identified and quantified. A compartment model for the dispersion of radionuclides in European coastal waters including the Baltic Sea is described and tested by comparing model predictions with observations. Collective doses are calculated with the model for each of the source-term categories. (au) (11 tabs., 28 ills., 17 refs.)

Forecasting fish stock dynamics under climate change: Baltic herring (Clupea harengus) as a case study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bartolino, V.; Margonski, P.; Lindegren, Martin

2014-01-01

Climate change and anthropogenic disturbances may affect marine populations and ecosystems through multiple pathways. In this study we present a framework in which we integrate existing models and knowledge on basic regulatory processes to investigate the potential impact of future scenarios...... of fisheries exploitation and climate change on the temporal dynamics of the central Baltic herring stock. Alternative scenarios of increasing sea surface temperature and decreasing salinity of the Baltic Sea from a global climate model were combined with two alternative fishing scenarios, and their direct......-term fish dynamics can be an informative tool to derive expectations of the potential long-term impact of alternative future scenarios of exploitation and climate change...

Linking growth to environmental histories in central Baltic young-of-the-year sprat, Sprattus sprattus : an approach based on otolith microstructure analysis and hydrodynamic modelling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Baumann, H.; Hinrichsen, H.H.; Voss, R.

2006-01-01

Otolith microstructure analysis and hydrodynamic modelling were combined to study growth patterns in young-of-the-year (YoY) sprat, Sprattus sprattus, which were sampled in October 2002 in the central Baltic Sea. The observed 'window of survival', approximated by the distribution of back-calculat......Otolith microstructure analysis and hydrodynamic modelling were combined to study growth patterns in young-of-the-year (YoY) sprat, Sprattus sprattus, which were sampled in October 2002 in the central Baltic Sea. The observed 'window of survival', approximated by the distribution of back......-calculated days of first feeding (DFF), was narrow compared to the extended spawning season of sprat in the Baltic Sea (mean +/- SD = 22 June +/- 14.1 days) and indicated that only individuals born in summer survived until October 2002. Within the group of survivors, individuals born later in the season exhibited...

Societal, land cover and climatic controls on river nutrient flows into the Baltic Sea

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Saaltink, R.; Velde, van der Y.; Dekker, S.C.; Lyon, S.W.; Dahlke, H.E.

2014-01-01

Study region River basins draining into the Baltic Sea, known as the Baltic Sea Drainage Basin (BSDB). Study focus Dramatic shifts in water quality have been observed in the Baltic Sea in past decades. This study investigated the spatial distribution of trends in nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in

Societal, land cover and climatic controls on river nutrient flows into the Baltic Sea

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Saaltink, Rémon; van der Velde, Ype; Dekker, Stefan; Lyon, Steve W.; Dahlke, Helen E.

Study region River basins draining into the Baltic Sea, known as the Baltic Sea Drainage Basin (BSDB). Study focus Dramatic shifts in water quality have been observed in the Baltic Sea in past decades. This study investigated the spatial distribution of trends in nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in

Societal, land cover and climatic controls on river nutrient flows into the Baltic Sea

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Saaltink, Rémon; van der Velde, Ype; Dekker, Stefan C.; Lyon, Steve W.; Dahlke, Helen E.

2014-01-01

Study region: River basins draining into the Baltic Sea, known as the Baltic Sea Drainage Basin (BSDB). Study focus: Dramatic shifts in water quality have been observed in the Baltic Sea in past decades. This study investigated the spatial distribution of trends in nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in

The Baltic Sea natural long-term variability of salinity

Science.gov (United States)

Schimanke, Semjon; Markus Meier, H. E.

2015-04-01

The Baltic Sea is one of the largest brackish sea areas of the world. The sensitive state of the Baltic Sea is sustained by a fresh-water surplus by river discharge and precipitation on one hand as well as inflows of highly saline and oxygen-rich water masses from the North Sea on the other. Major inflows which are crucial for the renewal of the deep water occur very intermittent with a mean frequency of approximately one per year. Stagnation periods (periods without major inflows) lead for instance to a reduction of oxygen concentration in the deep Baltic Sea spreading hypoxic conditions. Depending on the amount of salt water inflow and fresh-water supply the deep water salinity of the Baltic Sea varies between 11 to 14 PSU on the decadal scale. The goal of this study is to understand the contribution of different driving factors for the decadal to multi-decadal variability of salinity in the Baltic Sea. Continuous measurement series of salinity exist from the 1950 but are not sufficiently long for the investigation of long-term fluctuations. Therefore, a climate simulation of more than 800 years has been carried out with the Rossby Center Ocean model (RCO). RCO is a biogeochemical regional climate model which covers the entire Baltic Sea. It is driven with atmospheric data dynamical downscaled from a GCM mimicking natural climate variability. The analysis focus on the role of variations in river discharge and precipitation, changes in wind speed and direction, fluctuations in temperature and shifts in large scale pressure patterns (e.g. NAO). Hereby, the length of the simulation will allow to identify mechanisms working on decadal to multi-decadal time scales. Moreover, it will be discussed how likely long stagnation periods are under natural climate variability and if the observed exceptional long stagnation period between 1983-1993 might be related to beginning climate change.

Book of Abstracts - Managing Forests to Promote Environmental Services

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

This book includes the abstracts of the oral and poster presentation of the conference ‘Managing Forests to Promote Environmental Services’, 3-5 November 2015, Copenhagen. The conference is arranged by the Centre of Advanced Research on Environmental Services from Nordic Forest Ecosystems (CAR-ES...... forest management and environmental ecosystem services in a broader perspective, and overviews of ten years of CAR-ES integrated research on carbon sequestration, water protection, biodiversity, and soil quality in the Nordic – Baltic are presented. Frederiksberg, October 2015 Inge Stupak, Lars Högbom...... II), funded by Nordic Forest Research (SNS) 2011-2015. This is an open network that brings together Nordic and Baltic forest researchers in order to provide scientific knowledge on the impacts of forest management on major environmental services for decision making within the forestry sector...

Swedish political attitudes towards Baltic independence in the short 20th century

OpenAIRE

Kuldkepp, M.

2016-01-01

This article considers the history of Swedish attitudes towards Baltic independence in the period in the so-called short 20th century (1914-1991), focusing primarily on the years when Baltic independence was gained (1918-1920) and regained (1989-1991). The former period was characterized by Swedish skepticism towards the ability of the Baltic states to retain their independence long-term, explainable by the Swedish political elites’ conviction that the weakening of Russia in the First World W...

Understanding the ecocline at shallow coasts of the Baltic Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Lenartz, B.; Jurasinski, G.; Voss, M.; Janssen, M.

2017-12-01

We report on results of the Research Training Group Baltic TRANSCOAST. The overall aim of Baltic TRANSCOAST is to enhance our knowledge of the shallow coast ecocline. How is the marine coastal zone influenced by terrestrial processes? How is the terrestrial coastal zone influenced by marine processes? These questions lead our research within the three research fields covering hydro-dynamic, (bio)geochemical and biological processes. Regarding the hydro-dynamics we assess how the peatland's water balance, the current dynamics and hydraulic properties of the marine sediments and the subsoil influence sea water intrusions into the peatland and/or submarine groundwater discharge into the Baltic Sea. With respect to (bio)geochemical processes we address how (bio)geochemical transformation processes both in the marine and the terrestrial part of the coast are influenced by water and matter inputs from the respective other coastal domain. Finally, reagrding the biological processes, we are interested in revealing how the primary production and the composition of the micro- and macro-phytobenthos in the shallow Baltic Sea influence matter transformation processes. The integrative approach of Baltic TRANSCOAST allows us to get to grips with questions that are otherwise hard to tackle. For instance, we address how the pore water constituents drive microbial processes and the deposition of nutrients and and how they are impacted by sediment resuspension and translocation. We investigate how the hydrology of the peat layers interferes with the generation of trace gases and investigate the role of the nearby Warnow river and its plume and how this changes under the impact of wind direction and wind strength. For the latter we rely on data and models. Further, as a common basis for all topics addressed in Baltic TRANSCOAST we established the geology of the study area and learned that regional variability may play a major role in shaping the processes under study.

Semen quality of young men from the general population in Baltic countries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Erenpreiss, Juris; Punab, Margus; Zilaitiene, Birute

2017-01-01

STUDY QUESTION: What are the parameters of semen quality in Baltic men? SUMMARY ANSWER: Combined parameters of sperm concentration, motility and morphology revealed that 11-15% of men had low semen quality, 37-50% intermediate and 38-52% high semen quality. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: Previous studies...... have revealed regional differences in semen parameters, and semen quality of Baltic men has been suggested to be better than that of other European men. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION: This was a cross-sectional study of 1165 men aged 16-29 years from Estonia (N = 573), Latvia (N = 278) and Lithuania (N...... = 314) conducted in 2003-2004. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS SETTING METHODS: Men from the general population, median age 19.8 years, provided one semen sample each, had blood samples taken, had testis size determined, and provided information on lifestyle. Based on combined data of sperm concentration, sperm...

POP load and vitamins as potential biomarkers in the Baltic seals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Routti, H.; Nyman, M.; Helle, E. [Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Inst., Helsinki (Finland); Backman, C. [National Veterinary and Food Research Inst. (Finland); Koistinen, J. [Div. of Environmental Health, National Public Health Inst. (Finland)

2004-09-15

Exceptionally high levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) and 1,1,1.trichloro- 2,2-bis[p-chlorophenyl]ethane (DDT) and its metabolites were reported in the Baltic seals in the late 1960s and early 1970s. PCB levels in ringed seals, in particular, are still high enough to threaten the well being of the animals. The observed difference in contaminant pattern between ringed and grey seals in the Baltic has not been explained, but could be partly due to species-specific food sources. Several pathological and biochemical changes observed in the Baltic seals correlate with the individual POP loads. Of the observed biochemical changes, elevated cytochrome P4501A (CYP1A) levels, decreased liver vitamin A stores and increased vitamin E levels in blubber or plasma, have been proposed as possible biomarkers of contaminant load in Baltic seals. However, as the vitamin A and E status of marine mammals also reflects the nutritional vitamin level, the lower vitamin A and elevated vitamin E levels observed in the Baltic seals could be a reflection of the levels of these vitamins in their food sources. The aim of this study was to investigate the contaminant load in the Baltic seals and to evaluate the utility level of potential exposure and effect biomarkers. Seals from less contaminated areas were used as reference material (Svalbard and Sable Island, Canada). In the present study, POP and vitamin levels were also studied in seal prey species in order to study the transfer of these compounds to grey and ringed seals from their main food sources.

Marine environment protection for the North and Baltic Seas. Special Report - February 2004

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2004-07-01

The marine environment of the North Sea and Baltic Sea is still heavily polluted. The marine ecosystems are under severe stress from overfishing, water pollution, raw materials production and tourism. Environmental protection in this region necessitates decisive political initiatives and strict corrections especially in fishery policy, agricultural policy and chemical substances control. This is the balance of the special expert opinion of the Council of Environmental Experts. The publication specifies the main problem areas, the current pollution situation, the fields where action is most urgently required - especially in fishery, chemical substances, agricultural and sea travel policies - and presents suggestions for an integrated European and national marine protection policy including a regional development concept for the marine environment. (orig.)

The history of cyanobacterial blooms in the Baltic Sea.

Science.gov (United States)

Finni, T; Kononen, K; Olsonen, R; Wallström, K

2001-08-01

Long-term information on possible changes in cyanobacterial blooms in the Baltic Sea, formed mainly by Nodularia spumigena and Aphanizomenon sp., was sought in published records in historical (years 1887-1938) and modern (years 1974-1998) phytoplankton data sets. Old and new sampling methods and fixatives were tested to improve the comparison of data that had been collected and analyzed in different ways. A hundred years ago, plankton was mainly of interest as a source of fish food; eutrophication problems were only locally reported from the coast, mainly in southern haffs and the receiving waters of larger cities. There were few recordings of open-sea blooms before World War II. Abundances of Nodularia spumigena and Aphanizomenon sp. were low in the old material, and 137 summer samples from 1887-1938 showed no peak abundance. High abundances are common in the new material, and the range of the numbers of both taxa has increased markedly relative to the old material. Since the 1960s, cyanobacterial blooms have been common in the open sea in both the Baltic proper and the Gulf of Finland, indicating high availability of nutrients.

The ecophysiology of Sprattus sprattus in the Baltic and North Seas

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Peck, Myron A.; Baumann, Hannes; Bernreuther, Matthias

2012-01-01

at the northern limits of its latitudinal range (such as the Baltic Sea). Based on stage- and temperature-specific mortality and growth potential of early life stages, our analysis suggests that young-of-the year sprat would benefit from inhabiting warmer, near-shore environments rather than the deeper...... with an emphasis on describing how environmental factors influence the life-history strategy of this small pelagic fish. Ontogenetic changes in feeding and growth, and the impacts of abiotic and biotic factors on vital rates are discussed with particular emphasis on the role of temperature as a constraint to life...

Information, Interests, and Environmental Regulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Winter, Søren; May, Peter J.

2002-01-01

This study contributes to the understanding of informational approaches to bringing about compliance with environmental regulations with particular attention to differences in the influence of information provided by different information sources. Based on theorizing from a combination of informa......This study contributes to the understanding of informational approaches to bringing about compliance with environmental regulations with particular attention to differences in the influence of information provided by different information sources. Based on theorizing from a combination...... of information processing and interest group literatures, we develop hypotheses about regulatees' reliance upon and the influence of different sources of information. We test these hypotheses for Danish farmers’ compliance with agro-environmental rules. Our findings show that information plays a role in bringing...

Coping with persistent environmental problems: systemic delays in reducing eutrophication of the Baltic Sea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Riku Varjopuro

2014-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper we focus on systemic delays in the Baltic Sea that cause the problem of eutrophication to persist. These problems are demonstrated in our study by addressing three types of delays: (1 decision delay: the time it takes for an idea or perceived need to be launched as a policy; (2 implementation delay: the time from the launch of a policy to the actual implementation; (3 ecosystem delay: the time difference between the implementation and an actual measurable effects. A policy process is one characterized by delays. It may take years from problem identification to a decision to taking action and several years further for actual implementation. Ecosystem responses to measures illustrate that feedback can keep the ecosystem in a certain state and cause a delay in ecosystem response. These delays can operate on decadal scales. Our aim in this paper is to analyze these systemic delays and especially to discuss how the critical delays can be better addressed in marine protection policies by strengthening the adaptive capacity of marine protection. We conclude that the development of monitoring systems and reflexive, participatory analysis of dynamics involved in the implementation are keys to improve understanding of the systemic delays. The improved understanding is necessary for the adaptive management of a persistent environmental problem. In addition to the state of the environment, the monitoring and analysis should be targeted also at the implementation of policies to ensure that the societies are investing in the right measures.

Final Report on DANCEE-NFNA-NERI-NEPA-Gene Modified Organisms (GMO) Workshop for the Baltic Countries Estonia - Latvia - Lithuania in Collaboration with CEE Biosafety and BEF, January 23-30, 2001

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Løkke, H.; Damgaard, C.

Report on Training Cource on GMO Risk Assessment in Silkeborg. -- DANCEE - Environmental Assistance to Eastern Europe. (NEPA) is DEPA - (National) Danish Environmental Protection Agency (Miljøstyrelsen). NFNA - The National Forest and Nature Agency (Skov- og Naturstyrelsen). BEF - Baltic Environm...

ADMINISTRATIVE SUPERVISION OF LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT IN THE BALTIC STATES: A COMPARATIVE VIEW

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

VIOLETA KIURIENÉ

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The article analyses models of administrative supervision of local self-government in the Baltic States (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of these models. The research done in this article defines the theoretical concept of administrative supervision of local self-government; gives an overview of the legislative framework underpining the key administrative supervision bodies of local self-government in the Baltic States; discusses the issue of legal regulation and the present state of administrative supervision over local self-government units in the Baltic States; gives some theoretical and practical suggestions to develop this field in the Baltic States.The research methods employed in preparation of this article are theoretical methods of analysis of scientific literature and sources, legal acts and documents as well as comparative and logical analysis, induction and generalisation. Three Baltic States similar in their area, number of inhabitants, and governmental peculiarities have been chosen for the analysis.

The LWb blood group as a marker of prehistoric Baltic migrations and admixture.

Science.gov (United States)

Sistonen, P; Virtaranta-Knowles, K; Denisova, R; Kucinskas, V; Ambrasiene, D; Beckman, L

1999-06-01

Archaeological findings and historical records indicate frequent migrations and exchange of genetic material between populations in the Baltic Sea area. However, there have so far been very few attempts to trace migrations in this area using genetic markers. We have studied the Baltic populations with respect to exceptional variations in the frequencies of the Landsteiner-Wiener (LW) blood group. The frequency of the uncommon LWb gene was high in the Balts, around 6% among Latvians and Lithuanians, very low among the other western Europeans (0-0.1%) and apparently absent in Asiatic and African populations. From the Baltic region of peak frequency there was a regular decline of LWb incidence (a descending cline) in the neighboring populations: 4.0% in the Estonians, 2.9% in the Finns, 2. 2% in the Vologda Russians, and 2.0% in the Poles. Thus the distribution of LWb suggests considerable and extensive Baltic admixture, especially in the north and northeast direction. In Southern Sweden with an LWb frequency of 0.3%, the Baltic influence appeared slight, while in the population of the Swedish island Gotland in the middle of the Baltic Sea there was a significantly increased LWb frequency of 1.0% compared with that of Western European countries. The distinction of codominantly inherited LW antigenic forms, LWa and LWb (previously Nea), is known to be due to a single base substitution. Based on our population data, it is plausible that the expansion of this point mutation occurred only once during human history. Furthermore, our data indicate that the expansion of the LWb mutation occurred in Balts and that LWb can be considered a 'Baltic tribal marker', its presence in other populations being an indicator of the degree of Baltic genetic influence.

Towards uncertainty estimation for operational forecast products - a multi-model-ensemble approach for the North Sea and the Baltic Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Golbeck, Inga; Li, Xin; Janssen, Frank

2014-05-01

Several independent operational ocean models provide forecasts of the ocean state (e.g. sea level, temperature, salinity and ice cover) in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea on a daily basis. These forecasts are the primary source of information for a variety of information and emergency response systems used e.g. to issue sea level warnings or carry out oil drift forecast. The forecasts are of course highly valuable as such, but often suffer from a lack of information on their uncertainty. With the aim of augmenting the existing operational ocean forecasts in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea by a measure of uncertainty a multi-model-ensemble (MME) system for sea surface temperature (SST), sea surface salinity (SSS) and water transports has been set up in the framework of the MyOcean-2 project. Members of MyOcean-2, the NOOS² and HIROMB/BOOS³ communities provide 48h-forecasts serving as inputs. Different variables are processed separately due to their different physical characteristics. Based on the so far collected daily MME products of SST and SSS, a statistical method, Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis is applied to assess their spatial and temporal variability. For sea surface currents, progressive vector diagrams at specific points are consulted to estimate the performance of the circulation models especially in hydrodynamic important areas, e.g. inflow/outflow of the Baltic Sea, Norwegian trench and English Channel. For further versions of the MME system, it is planned to extend the MME to other variables like e.g. sea level, ocean currents or ice cover based on the needs of the model providers and their customers. It is also planned to include in-situ data to augment the uncertainty information and for validation purposes. Additionally, weighting methods will be implemented into the MME system to develop more complex uncertainty measures. The methodology used to create the MME will be outlined and different ensemble products will be presented. In

Modelling the Baltic power system till 2050

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blumberga, Andra; Lauka, Dace; Barisa, Aiga; Blumberga, Dagnija

2016-01-01

Highlights: • A dynamic model was developed to evaluate changes in the energy system till 2050. • Wind energy has the potential to become dominant in the Baltic region. • Solar energy has the potential to become popular from 2025 till 2050. - Abstract: The European Union has given a long-term commitment towards a low-carbon society. Power sector is to play an important role in achieving ambitious emission reduction goals. This article presents results of a research aimed at evaluating development of the Baltic power system under current framework conditions. Special focus is put on renewable energy analysis to estimate the potential of power sector decarbonization. A dynamic energy-economy model was developed by applying system dynamics modelling approach in order to evaluate changes in the energy system till 2050. Underlying structure of the model is based on energy resource flows according to the national electricity mix of each Baltic State. The model calculates energy generation costs of each technology taking into account national support schemes. Based on cost estimation, the installed capacity of each energy resource is determined. Modelling results suggest that wind energy has the potential to become dominant in the Baltic region. This is explained by increasing competitiveness of wind-generated power price compared to fossil-fuel-based generation. Solar energy has the potential to become popular from 2025 onwards due to decreasing investment costs. The market share of other renewable electricity technologies, such as hydro and biomass, will continue to increase reaching maximum between 2020 and 2030. Biogas plants are still not expected to play considerable role in electricity generation.

Natural gas co-operation in the Baltic region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jensen, J.K.

1996-01-01

Co-operation between the gas companies in the Baltic Region has been in place for several years. The overview given in this paper shows that the co-operation has been developed in trade, investments, privatisation and participation in the restructuring process. Finally, through a broad technical co-operation, significant efforts are made to establish common operational practices, codes and standards and the integrity of gas transmission pipelines. The Baltic Region, from a resource and gas interconnection point of view, enjoys a strategic position in the future development of the gas industry in Europe. The Baltic gas sector represents an interesting and growing gas market with the significant gas storage capacity. The region is also located strategically for planned gas interconnections and could serve as a transit corridor for the future gas supplies from western Siberia or the North Sea. This co-operation in the region is being supported by international regulations and agreements such as the Energy Charter between the European Union and the central and east European countries. However, at present the gas industry in the Baltic Region seems to be ahead of these international agreements. It may well be seen that trade arrangements such as Third Party Access are implemented directly by market forces rather than through international agreements. The regional development may thus be a driving force for the implementation of the Internal Energy Market for the gas industry

Baltic Exchange teper v Tallinne

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

2007-01-01

Viimane osa merekonteineritesse kokkupakitud Londoni laevandus- ja merebörsi Baltic Exchange'i endise peakorteri detailidest jõudis 2007. a. juunis Tallinna. Hoone detailid ostnud ärimehed Heiti Hääl ja Eerik-Niiles Kross plaanivad leida hoonele koha Tallinna kesklinnas. E.-N. Krossi kommentaar

American Foreign Policy Think Tanks and their Views on Baltic Security

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Boyd Jonathan A.

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Recent events have created a sense of urgency within the U.S. foreign policy establishment to update its strategy towards Russia. The Baltic states are seen to be particularly vulnerable and because of its NATO commitments and its history of underwriting security in the region, the U.S. is under pressure to develop an appropriate response. Policy and research institutes-or think tanks-are an important part of the U.S. foreign policy establishment, and given the influence they often have on American foreign policy, it is sensible for any student of Baltic security to evaluate the think tanks’ current perspectives on the viability and desirability of U.S. security commitments in the region. To that end, this article evaluates the outputs of twelve prominent U.S. foreign policy think tanks according to the views they expressed across four general groupings of issues: positions on U.S. grand strategy, perceptions of Moscow’s intentions and capabilities, assessments of NATO’s heath and its value to U.S. security, and the level of commitment to, and assessment of, the security vulnerabilities of the Baltic states. The findings dispel a common misperception that U.S. foreign policy think tanks are generally shifting towards a realist perspective on the Baltic states; they generally do not support U.S. retrenchment, most consider Russia as having revanchist motives, and as a whole support bolstering the defences of NATO’s easternmost flank. However, it would also be an exaggeration to conclude that the U.S. think tank community overall were staunch defenders of the Baltic states, as for many there is a prevailing inattentiveness to Baltic security issues.

Corporate environmental management and information technology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rikhardsson, Pall M.

2001-01-01

software, the Internet, computer networks, telecommunications devices, etc. Information technology also has an impact on how companies perform environmental management. This paper looks at the relations between corporate environmental management and information technology. First it presents a framework...... for mapping information technology. Using this framework it focuses on the use of information technology in corporate environmental management, describes the market for standard environmental management information systems and implementation experiences from one large international company.......Information technology has changed, is changing and will continue to change the face of business as we further enter the Information Society. Today it would be difficult for a company to function effectively without the aid of various information technologies such as accounting software, production...

Linked environmental data. The next step for environmental information systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Menger, Matthias; Ackermann, Patrick; Linse, Andreas; Bandholtz, Thomas

2013-01-01

The Federal Environment Agency (UBA) in Germany as one Competent Authority of the European Member States involved with the assessment and authorisation of chemicals, pesticides, biozides and medicals, has a wide expertise of complex information systems. Having timely, comprehensive and reliable information on the environmental relevant properties (e.g. of chemical substances and preparations) is of immense importance for all sections dealing with environmental protection issues. Regarding the reality of available information systems in each environmental section, and moreover in each section itself, there has been developed several specific approaches to gather, store and search its relevant data. This makes sense due to each section has its own requirements, different user groups (industry and authorities or just authorities or scientific partners etc.), different budgets to bring technology 'on the road', and different (legally obligatory) procedures to handle the data and information of such systems. Nevertheless, there several strong reasons to look for a Linked Environmental Data infrastructure - at least internally in one authority itself: - Overcome the mostly separated systems; - Explore the potential of data silos in several environmental sections; - Efficiency/effectiveness in data gathering, assessment, results, budgets..; - sharing of knowledge, i.e. use of specific prepared information of specially intended information systems; - timelyness of data/information; - best data/information from most competent partner/section; - gain from already available systems and their data/information; - speed up developments and availability of data/information. Of course there are also several points which might be a huge obstacle to Linked Environmental Data (LED), e.g. confidential business data. This leads already to the distinction between 'Open LED' and 'Non-Open LED'. Nevertheless, the potential benefits and the possibilities offered via the modern information

The independent Baltic states: Maritime law and resource management implications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Canfield, J.L.

1993-01-01

The achievement of independence by the Baltic states impacts nearly all aspects of the maritime law and resource management regimes appertaining to the Baltic Sea. The unique position of these states, given their maritime history and role as a bridge between East and West, warrants reconsideration. The Baltic Sea basin is among the most highly industrialized shorelines in the world, accounting for approximately 15% of world industrial output, and is relatively dense in population. Large quantities of pollutants water its waters by way of industrial, agricultural, and municipal waste. A lack of adequate sewage treatment accounts for much of the waste. The Baltic is also especially sensitive to oil pollution as the relatively cold water inhibits bacteriological breakdown. Important issues of maritime border delimitation, treaty devolution, and the potential for reinstitution of exclusionary regimes reappeared with the attainment of independence. Further, the legacy of Soviet maritime environment and resource management has engendered fundamental political, social, and economic conflicts for which resources and effective management structures are lacking. The competing requirements of economic development, reintegration into Western markets, and management of critical marine resources highlights the need for comprehensive and regionally focused approaches to the problems identified

Magnetic Repeat Station Network on the Baltic Sea — Why So Needed?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Welker Elżbieta

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The development of navigation systems requires more and more accurate base data. Currently, attention is paid to utilization of geophysical fields — gravitational and magnetic ones — for navigation purposes. The Earth’s magnetic field distribution — both onshore and offshore — is complicated and variable in time. Hence, it is essential to precisely know the secular variations in the area of interest. In the case of Baltic Sea, this involves establishing (re-establishing of a marine network of secular points (repeat stations and regular magnetic measurements of the three independent components of the Earth’s magnetic field. Such measurements require equipment that ensures not only high stability, but also information about sensors’ orientation in relation to geographic north and to the level. This article presents a new project of the Baltic network of repeat stations and gives a solution for the instruments usable for quasi-absolute magnetic measurements.

Fish production and climate: Sprat in the Baltic Sea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

MacKenzie, Brian; Köster, Fritz

2004-01-01

Processes controlling the production of new fish (recruitment) are poorly understood and therefore challenge population ecologists and resource managers. Sprat in the Baltic Sea is no exception: recruitment varies widely between years and is virtually independent of the biomass of mature sprat......-scale climate variability (North Atlantic Oscillation), Baltic Sea ice coverage, and water temperature. These relationships increase our understanding of sprat population dynamics and enable a desirable integration of fisheries ecology and management with climatology and oceanography....

Monitoring of the radioactive materials in the Baltic Sea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jaworowski, Z.; Baranski, A.; Grzybowska, D.; Pawlak, A.; Pietruszewski, A.; Suplinska, M.; Wardaszko, T.; Tomczak, J.; Skiba, D.

1986-01-01

Between 1975 and 1984 the measurements of concentrations of Sr-90, Cs-137, Pu-239, 240, H-3, K-40, Ra-226, Ta-232, Ti, Mn, Fe, Zn, Rb, Pb, Cd and Sr have been determined in various components of the Baltic Sea. The radionuclides were determined by radiochemical and gamma spectroscopic methods, and the stable nuclides by differential pulse anodic stripping voltametry and by energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence. The concentrations of Cs-137 in the Baltic seawater was up to 7 times lower than in the Northern sea but 20 times higher than in the water from the Polish rivers. The concentrations of Cs-137 were related to the salinity. In sediments Sr-90 levels were 1-2 orders of magnitude lower than those of other nuclides. The radioactivity of fish was found 1 order of magnitude higher in the Baltic than in Polish lakes and rivers. (author)

MPC&A training needs of the NIS/Baltics States.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Beck, David Franklin; Stoy-McLeod, Carol L.

2006-07-01

This report serves to document contract deliverables considered to be of continuing interest associated with two workshops conducted as part of an initial assessment of Material Protection, Control, and Accounting (MPC&A) training needs of the Newly Independent and Baltic States (NIS/Baltics). These workshops were held in Kiev, Ukraine, ca. 2003-2004, with the assistance of personnel from the George Kuzmycz Training Center (GKTC) of the Kiev Institute of Nuclear Research (KINR). Because of the dominant role Ukraine plays in the region in terms of the nuclear industry, one workshop focused exclusively on Ukrainian training needs, with participants attending from twelve Ukrainian organizations (plus U.S. DOE/NNSA representatives). The second workshop included participation by a further ten countries from the NIS/Baltics region. In addition, the training needs data developed during the workshop were supplemented by the outcomes of surveys and studies conducted by the GKTC.

Holocene history of the Baltic Sea as a background for assessing records of human impact in the sediments of the Gotland Basin

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andrén, E.; Andrén, T.; Kunzendorf, Helmar

2000-01-01

Sediment cores from the Gotland Basin were studied for their siliceous microfossil assemblages and organic carbon content to compare recent environmental changes in the Baltic Sea with its natural long-term history. Age models were constructed using Pb-210, Cs-137 and corrected and calibrated C-14...

Corporate Environmental Management and Information Technology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rikhardsson, Pall M.

2000-01-01

software, the internet, computer networks, telecommunications devices, etc. Information technology also has an impact on how companies perform environmental management. This paper explores the relations between environmental management and information technology in general terms. It offers a classification...... framework for the use of information technology in corporate environmental management (CEM), describes the market for standard environmental management information systems solutions, what main functionalities are available and what main trends are visible.......Information technology has changed, is changing and will continue to change the face of business as we further enter the Information Society. Today it would be difficult for a company to function effectively without the aid of various information technologies such as accounting software, production...

The Holocene sedimentary record of cyanobacterial glycolipids in the Baltic Sea: an evaluation of their application as tracers of past nitrogen fixation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Sollai

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Heterocyst glycolipids (HGs are lipids exclusively produced by heterocystous dinitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria. The Baltic Sea is an ideal environment to study the distribution of HGs and test their potential as biomarkers because of its recurring summer phytoplankton blooms, dominated by a few heterocystous cyanobacterial species of the genera Nodularia and Aphanizomenon. A multi-core and a gravity core from the Gotland Basin were analyzed to determine the abundance and distribution of a suite of selected HGs at a high resolution to investigate the changes in past cyanobacterial communities during the Holocene. The HG distribution of the sediments deposited during the Modern Warm Period (MoWP was compared with those of cultivated heterocystous cyanobacteria, including those isolated from Baltic Sea waters, revealing high similarity. However, the abundance of HGs dropped substantially with depth, and this may be caused by either a decrease in the occurrence of the cyanobacterial blooms or diagenesis, resulting in partial destruction of the HGs. The record also shows that the HG distribution has remained stable since the Baltic turned into a brackish semi-enclosed basin ∼ 7200 cal. yr BP. This suggests that the heterocystous cyanobacterial species composition remained relatively stable as well. During the earlier freshwater phase of the Baltic (i.e., the Ancylus Lake and Yoldia Sea phases, the distribution of the HGs varied much more than in the subsequent brackish phase, and the absolute abundance of HGs was much lower than during the brackish phase. This suggests that the cyanobacterial community adjusted to the different environmental conditions in the basin. Our results confirm the potential of HGs as a specific biomarker of heterocystous cyanobacteria in paleo-environmental studies.

Baltic Pathways from Liberal Trade Model to Neo-Mercantilism in the European Union

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Viljar Veebel

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The economic progress of the Baltic States after the restoration of independence has been closely related to the liberal ideology and values of their economies: openness to investments, simple tax system and low tax burden, liberal trade policy, and flexible labour market. Unlike the Baltic States, some of their main partners in the European Union (EU have focused on promoting their economic growth by the neo-mercantilist way of expanding exports, supported by the economic structure of these countries exporting high technology and capital goods. As a result, when the Baltic States are expecting that in a broader context the other eu member states share the same vision of the liberal market economy, their motives have not been fully understood among their regional trade and cooperation partners. Current study will debate whether the practical implementation and needs of the European neo-mercantilism meet the economic and social needs of the Baltic States. Additionally, the study focuses on the question whether in practice the Baltic countries should be ready for the European neo-mercantilist project in upcoming years.

Environmental spaces

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Henrik Gutzon

Using the development of intergovernmental environmental cooperation in the Baltic Sea area as a concrete example, the aim of this study is to explore how the 'environment' in situations of environmental interdependence is identified and institutionalised as political-geographical objects....... 'Environmental interdependence' is to this end conceptualised as a tension between 'political spaces' of discrete state territories and 'environmental spaces' of spatially nested ecosystems. This tension between geographies of political separateness and environmental wholeness is the implicit or explicit basis...... for a large and varied literature. But in both its critical and problemsolving manifestations, this literature tends to naturalise the spatiality of environmental concerns: environmental spaces are generally taken for granted. On the suggestion that there is a subtle politics to the specification...

Addressing socio-cultural values in the use and management of Baltic herring

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ignatius, Suvi; Haapasaari, Päivi Elisabet

2016-01-01

, and is mainly used for animal feed and fishmeal and oil. Harmful dioxins in Baltic herring have been offered as an explanation for its reduced human consumption. We argue that dioxins are only part of the explanation while sociocultural values also influence the use and management of the fish resource....... By applying the justification theory of Boltanski and Thévenot to expert workshop discussions and a literature review, we investigate (1) what values people in Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Estonia associate with Baltic herring; and (2) which values determine the way the fish resource is used. Our study...... indicates that management decisions related to Baltic herring are predominantly guided by economic values and industrial efficiency. Profit optimisation in the fishery together with the image problem that Baltic herring suffers from, seem to have contributed to the devaluation of this fish species as food...

The maritime law of the Baltic Sea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jahnke, Carsten

2017-01-01

Before the end of the 13th century, the Baltic seamen created a law system codi ed in Bjarkey and Söderköping and then Schleswig laws. The increasing Germanic domination of Baltic navigation resulted in the creation of speci c maritime laws for Lübeck and Hamburg before the introduction of the Laws...... lois de Bjarkey et de Söderköping, puis de Schleswig. La progressive domination germanique sur la navigation en Baltique a pour conséquence la création de lois maritimes propres à Lübeck et à Hambourg, avant l’introduction des Rôles d’Oléron, traduits en bas-allemand pour former le Vonesse von Damme...

Electric energy cooperation in the Baltic Sea region and the role of Russia in it

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zverev Yuri

2013-06-01

Full Text Available This article examines cooperation in the electric energy sector in the Baltic region. The author explores the existing undersea HVDC power exchange projects. It is emphasised that cooperation in the electric energy sector is concentrated largely in the EU member states despite earlier plans to establish the Baltic energy ring, which would also include Russia and Belarus. The author stresses that one of the most acute problems for the EU today is overcoming isolation of the energy systems of the Baltic States (Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia from that of the major part of the EU. This task has become especially relevant after the closing of the Ignalina NPP (Lithuania, which used to be the primary energy source for the three Baltic States. The article examines key projects of the construction of new international power transmission lines in the framework of the Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan (BEMIP and the prospects of the Visaginas NPP (Lithuania in solving energy problems of the Baltic States. The author analyses Russia’s role in the electric energy market and focuses on a possible increase of the country’s energy market share following the construction of the Baltic NPP and the export of generated electric energy to Poland, Lithuania, Germany, and Sweden. The author concludes that the prospects of Russia’s energy export to the Baltic Sea region will be determined not only by technological, economic and market factors, but rather by the general state of relations between Russia and the EU. Moreover, a lot depends on Lithuania’s decision on the construction of the Visaginas NPP, as well as the way the EU and the Baltic States solve the problem of energy supply in case the NPP project is terminated.

Environmental Issues in the Media--Students' Perceptions in the Three Nordic-Baltic Countries

Science.gov (United States)

Keinonen, Tuula; Yli-Panula, Eija; Svens, Maria; Vilkonis, Rytis; Persson, Christel; Palmberg, Irmeli

2014-01-01

The media, as a source of information, is supposed to have a significant role in effecting people's environmental knowledge and attitudes. The purpose of this study was to find students' perceptions of environmental issues as presented in the media and how students in Finland, Lithuania and Sweden used these media sources in the matters related to…

Linked environmental data. The next step for environmental information systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Menger, Matthias; Ackermann, Patrick; Linse, Andreas [Federal Environemnt Agency, Dessau (Germany); Bandholtz, Thomas [innoQ GmbH, Monheim (Germany)

2013-07-01

The Federal Environment Agency (UBA) in Germany as one Competent Authority of the European Member States involved with the assessment and authorisation of chemicals, pesticides, biozides and medicals, has a wide expertise of complex information systems. Having timely, comprehensive and reliable information on the environmental relevant properties (e.g. of chemical substances and preparations) is of immense importance for all sections dealing with environmental protection issues. Regarding the reality of available information systems in each environmental section, and moreover in each section itself, there has been developed several specific approaches to gather, store and search its relevant data. This makes sense due to each section has its own requirements, different user groups (industry and authorities or just authorities or scientific partners etc.), different budgets to bring technology 'on the road', and different (legally obligatory) procedures to handle the data and information of such systems. Nevertheless, there several strong reasons to look for a Linked Environmental Data infrastructure - at least internally in one authority itself: - Overcome the mostly separated systems; - Explore the potential of data silos in several environmental sections; - Efficiency/effectiveness in data gathering, assessment, results, budgets..; - sharing of knowledge, i.e. use of specific prepared information of specially intended information systems; - timelyness of data/information; - best data/information from most competent partner/section; - gain from already available systems and their data/information; - speed up developments and availability of data/information. Of course there are also several points which might be a huge obstacle to Linked Environmental Data (LED), e.g. confidential business data. This leads already to the distinction between 'Open LED' and 'Non-Open LED'. Nevertheless, the potential benefits and the possibilities

Scandinavia and the Baltic Region

Science.gov (United States)

2003-01-01

Data from the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer's vertical-viewing (nadir) camera were combined to create this cloud-free natural-color mosaic of Scandinavia and the Baltic region. The image extends from 64oN, 0oE in the northwest to 56oN, 32oE in the southeast, and has been draped over a shaded relief Digital Terrain Elevation Model from the United States Geological Survey. It is displayed in an equidistant conic projection.The image area includes southern Norway, Sweden and Finland, northern Denmark, Estonia, Latvia and part of western Russia. Norway's rugged western coastline is deeply indented by fjords. Elongated lakes, formed by glacial erosion and deposition, are characteristic of the entire region, and are particularly dense throughout Finland and Sweden. Numerous islands are present, and a virtually continuous chain of small, scattered islands occur between Sweden and Finland. The northern and eastern waters of the Baltic Sea are almost fresh, since the Baltic receives saltwater only from the narrow and shallow sounds between Denmark and Sweden that connect it to the North Sea. Most of the major cities within the image area are coastal, including St. Petersburg, Stockholm, Helsinki, Riga, and Oslo.The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) observes the daylit Earth continuously from pole to pole, and every 9 days views the entire globe between 82 degrees north and 82 degrees south latitude.MISR was built and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, for NASA's Office of Earth Science, Washington, DC. The Terra satellite is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology.

Comparative biology and population mixing among local, coastal and offshore Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) in the North Sea, Skagerrak, Kattegat and western Baltic

Science.gov (United States)

Slotte, Aril; Johannessen, Arne; Kvamme, Cecilie; Clausen, Lotte Worsøe; Nash, Richard D. M.

2017-01-01

The population structure of Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) from 13 local, coastal and offshore areas of the North Sea, Skagerrak, Kattegat and western Baltic (northeast Atlantic) was studied using biological and environmental data from 1970–2015. The objective was to identify distinct populations by comparing variability in the temporal and spatial phenotypic characteristics and evaluate the potential for mixing of populations in time and space. The populations varied in biological characteristics such as mean vertebral counts (VS), growth and maturity ogives. Generalized additive models indicated temporally stable VS in the North Sea and western Baltic, whereas intra-annual temporal variation of VS occurred in other areas. High variability of VS within a population was not affected by environmental factors such as temperature and salinity. Consequently, seasonal VS variability can be explained by the presence or absence of herring populations as they migrate between areas. The three main populations identified in this paper correspond to the three managed stocks in this area: Norwegian spring spawners (NSS), western Baltic spring spawners (WBSS) and North Sea autumn spawners (NSAS). In addition, several local populations were identified in fjords or lakes along the coast, but our analyses could not detect direct mixing of local populations with the three main populations. Our results highlight the importance of recognizing herring dynamics and understanding the mixing of populations as a challenge for management of herring. PMID:29084258

Developing Baltic cod recruitment models II : Incorporation of environmental variability and species interaction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Köster, Fritz; Hinrichsen, H.H.; St. John, Michael

2001-01-01

We investigate whether a process-oriented approach based on the results of field, laboratory, and modelling studies can be used to develop a stock-environment-recruitment model for Central Baltic cod (Gadus morhua). Based on exploratory statistical analysis, significant variables influencing...... affecting survival of eggs, predation by clupeids on eggs, larval transport, and cannibalism. Results showed that recruitment in the most important spawning area, the Bornholm Basin, during 1976-1995 was related to egg production; however, other factors affecting survival of the eggs (oxygen conditions......, predation) were also significant and when incorporated explained 69% of the variation in 0-group recruitment. In other spawning areas, variable hydrographic conditions did not allow for regular successful egg development. Hence, relatively simple models proved sufficient to predict recruitment of 0-group...

Users’ corporate environmental information needs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter Nasiema Kamala

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Most listed South African companies appear to have embarked on environmental reporting without enquiring what the users’ needs are. If users’ needs are not determined prior to reporting, it is unlikely that the resulting reports will meet those needs. Using a questionnaire, this study investigated the environmental information needs of South African users of environmental reports. The study was deemed necessary to unveil users’ preferences which, if incorporated in reports, could enhance their perceived decisionusefulness, thus increasing readership. The results of the survey revealed that users need balanced environmental information that identifies and describes key, relevant issues and that is both specific and accurate. In addition, users need future-oriented information that identifies and addresses key stakeholders’ concerns, and which demonstrates the integration of environmental issues into core business processes. Furthermore the information should be summarised in an integrated annual report and posted on a company’s website. Based on its findings, this study recommends that standard setters and regulators should recognise that both financial and non-financial users need decision-useful environmental reports. Disclosure standards and regulations should therefore be amended to accommodate this reality.

Nato enlarging into the Baltic States

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

2003-01-01

Prahas 21.-22. novembrini 2002 toimunud NATO tippkohtumisest ja seal vastu võetud otsusest Balti riikide alliansiga ühinemise kohta. Vt. samas: Russia's attitude to the NATO enlargement; Bush in Vilnius; Baltic states' prime ministers' met; Supporting USA?

Evaluation of otolith shape as a tool for stock discrimination in marine fishes using Baltic Sea cod as a case study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hüssy, Karin; Mosegaard, Henrik; Albertsen, Christoffer Moesgaard

2016-01-01

demonstrate theinterplay of environmental, ontogenetic and genetic influences on otolith shape, which complicates theapplication of otolith shape for stock discrimination in mixed-stock scenarios. Rigours genetic validationand further studies on the temporal dynamics of shape formation are necessary.......In the Western Baltic Sea two genetically distinct cod stocks “Eastern Baltic cod” and “Western Balticcod” occur with considerable mixing of stocks. In this study we evaluated the applicability of otolithshape analysis for classification of individuals caught in the mixed stock cod fishery, using...... SNP (singlenucleotide polymorphism) based genetic assignment of otolith shape baselines. We further developeda management aimed approach for mixed stock assignment by robust stochastic baseline selection andposterior bias correction by individual reassignment of the least likely classifications...

Modelling and forecasting long-term dynamics of Western Baltic macrobenthic fauna in relation to climate signals and environmental change

Science.gov (United States)

Gröger, Joachim; Rumohr, Heye

2006-05-01

Long-term macrobenthos data from Kiel Bight in the Western Baltic collected between 1968 and 2000 have been correlated with the winter NAO index (North Atlantic Oscillation Index) and other environmental data such as temperature, salinity and oxygen content in the bottom water in order to detect systematic patterns related to so far unexplained abiotic signals in the dynamics of zoobenthic species assemblages. The benthos data come from a cluster of five stations (Süderfahrt/ Millionenviertel) in Kiel Bay. Our investigations concentrated on the macrobenthic dynamics with a focus on the number of species m - 2 (species richness). Using logarithms and the time series analysis approach of Box/Jenkins (ARIMA modelling, transfer function modelling) it was shown that species richness was strongly influenced by the winter NAO (adjusted for a linear time trend within the 1968-2000 period) and salinity (with a shift/lag of four years). Bootstrapping experiments (i.e. sampling from the error process) and analysis of prediction power (by means of the one- or more-years leaving-out method) showed that the parameter estimates behaved in a stable way, leading to a relatively robust model.

Organochlorine concentrations in diseased vs. healthy gull chicks from the northern Baltic.

Science.gov (United States)

Hario, Martti; Hirvi, Juha-Pekka; Hollmén, Tuula; Rudbäck, Eeva

2004-01-01

The population decline of the nominate lesser black-backed gull Larus fuscus fuscus in the Gulf of Finland (northern Baltic) is caused by an exceedingly high chick mortality due to diseases. The chick diseases include degeneration in various internal organs (primarily liver), inflammations (mainly intestinal), and sepsis, the final cause of death. The hypothesis of starvation causing intestinal inflammations (leading to sepsis) was tested by attempting to reproduce lesions in apparently healthy herring gull L. argentatus chicks in captivity. The herring gull chicks were provided a similar low food-intake frequency as observed for the diseased chicks in the wild. However, empty alimentary tract per se did not induce the intestinal inflammations and therefore, inflammations seem to be innate or caused by other environmental factors in the diseased lesser black-backed chicks. They had very high concentrations of PCB in their liver; but the concentrations were not significantly higher than those of the healthy herring gull chicks, indicating a common exposure area for both species (i.e. the Baltic Sea). When compared to NOEL and LOEL values for TEQs in bird eggs our TEQ levels clearly exceed most or all of the values associated with effects. Compared with published data on fish-eating waterbirds, the DDE concentrations in the diseased lesser black-backed chicks were well above the levels previously correlated with decreased reproduction, while the residues in apparently healthy herring gulls were below those levels. The DDE/PCB ratio in lesser black-backs was significantly elevated, indicating an increased exposure to DDTs as compared with most other Baltic and circumpolar seabirds. The possible exposure areas of DDT in relation to differential migration habits of the two gull species are discussed.

Organochlorine concentrations in diseased vs. healthy gull chicks from the northern Baltic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hario, Martti; Hirvi, Juha-Pekka; Hollmen, Tuula; Rudbaeck, Eeva

2004-01-01

The population decline of the nominate lesser black-backed gull Larus fuscus fuscus in the Gulf of Finland (northern Baltic) is caused by an exceedingly high chick mortality due to diseases. The chick diseases include degeneration in various internal organs (primarily liver), inflammations (mainly intestinal), and sepsis, the final cause of death. The hypothesis of starvation causing intestinal inflammations (leading to sepsis) was tested by attempting to reproduce lesions in apparently healthy herring gull L. argentatus chicks in captivity. The herring gull chicks were provided a similar low food-intake frequency as observed for the diseased chicks in the wild. However, empty alimentary tract per se did not induce the intestinal inflammations and therefore, inflammations seem to be innate or caused by other environmental factors in the diseased lesser black-backed chicks. They had very high concentrations of PCB in their liver; but the concentrations were not significantly higher than those of the healthy herring gull chicks, indicating a common exposure area for both species (i.e. the Baltic Sea). When compared to NOEL and LOEL values for TEQs in bird eggs our TEQ levels clearly exceed most or all of the values associated with effects. Compared with published data on fish-eating waterbirds, the DDE concentrations in the diseased lesser black-backed chicks were well above the levels previously correlated with decreased reproduction, while the residues in apparently healthy herring gulls were below those levels. The DDE/PCB ratio in lesser black-backs was significantly elevated, indicating an increased exposure to DDTs as compared with most other Baltic and circumpolar seabirds. The possible exposure areas of DDT in relation to differential migration habits of the two gull species are discussed. - Elevated DDE/PCB ratio correlates with a high rate of chick diseases in the endangered nominate lesser black-backed gull

Organochlorine concentrations in diseased vs. healthy gull chicks from the northern Baltic

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hario, Martti; Hirvi, Juha-Pekka; Hollmen, Tuula; Rudbaeck, Eeva

2004-02-01

The population decline of the nominate lesser black-backed gull Larus fuscus fuscus in the Gulf of Finland (northern Baltic) is caused by an exceedingly high chick mortality due to diseases. The chick diseases include degeneration in various internal organs (primarily liver), inflammations (mainly intestinal), and sepsis, the final cause of death. The hypothesis of starvation causing intestinal inflammations (leading to sepsis) was tested by attempting to reproduce lesions in apparently healthy herring gull L. argentatus chicks in captivity. The herring gull chicks were provided a similar low food-intake frequency as observed for the diseased chicks in the wild. However, empty alimentary tract per se did not induce the intestinal inflammations and therefore, inflammations seem to be innate or caused by other environmental factors in the diseased lesser black-backed chicks. They had very high concentrations of PCB in their liver; but the concentrations were not significantly higher than those of the healthy herring gull chicks, indicating a common exposure area for both species (i.e. the Baltic Sea). When compared to NOEL and LOEL values for TEQs in bird eggs our TEQ levels clearly exceed most or all of the values associated with effects. Compared with published data on fish-eating waterbirds, the DDE concentrations in the diseased lesser black-backed chicks were well above the levels previously correlated with decreased reproduction, while the residues in apparently healthy herring gulls were below those levels. The DDE/PCB ratio in lesser black-backs was significantly elevated, indicating an increased exposure to DDTs as compared with most other Baltic and circumpolar seabirds. The possible exposure areas of DDT in relation to differential migration habits of the two gull species are discussed. - Elevated DDE/PCB ratio correlates with a high rate of chick diseases in the endangered nominate lesser black-backed gull.

[The "Baltic Frontier" revisited. Power structures and gross-cultural interactions in the Baltic region. Proceedings of the international symposium in Florence, February 29th and March Ist, 2008] / Karsten Brüggemann

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Brüggemann, Karsten, 1965-

2010-01-01

Arvustus: The "Baltic Frontier" revisited. Power structures and gross-cultural interactions in the Baltic region. Proceedings of the international symposium in Florence, February 29th and March Ist, 2008. Vienna, 2009

Innovation policies and entrepreneurship in the Baltic States - key to European Economic success

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olesea SIRBU

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Entrepreneurship is by far the most important force stimulating economic growth and social progress. In case of the Baltic States pro-market regulation allowed passing over the transition period in a relatively short period of time and, therefore, be sufficiently competitive as to integrate into the European Union. Thus, presently, the Baltic States came to be the most economically developed countries among the former USSR states. Consequently, the present research addresses three key questions, first, which is the role of entrepreneurship in determining the Baltic States’ economic development, second, what is the influence of R&D investments of the society in general and of business in particular in boosting economic development, and third, will the present fiscal policies in the Baltic States motivate further economic growth by stimulating entrepreneurial and innovation? The methodology involved in this paper includes both quantitative and qualitative indicators which combined will offer a deeper insight upon the matter of the present research. The results received allowed reaching the conclusion that entrepreneurship has enhanced all the Baltic States’ economic competitiveness yet the extent differ, with Estonia leading followed by Lithuania and Latvia.

The Role of Political Elites in the Development of Politics of Memory in the Baltic States

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Smirnov Vadim

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The article focuses on multiple cases of the politicization of history by the Baltic political elites. Three states of development of politics of memory in the Baltic States are identified. Problems of political exploitation of the past are scrutinized in the context of political life and international relations. It is concluded that the narratives of the past where nazi and Soviet legacies are equated are actively promoted on the pan-European level. Elites of the Baltic States play a salient role in this process and enhance ties with the elites of the Eastern Europe, expert and political communities of the Western Europe and USA. The dominant trends in the development of the historical politics in the Baltic countries are the administrative and legislative instruments for approval of the preferred narratives of the past, as well as an active political work at the international level aimed at the inclusion of the Baltic narratives of the past into the European politics of memory. Historical politics of the Baltic States shows the Baltic countries as the victims of "two totalitarianisms" ("Nazi and Soviet occupation", and this point of view is widely used as a foreign policy tool. The politicization of the "anti-totalitarianism" issue is now a popular foreign policy tool that not only serves the interests of the Baltic and Eastern European politicians, but also finds ideological supporters in Western Europe and the United States.

Topical problems related to the pollution of the Baltic Sea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1991-01-01

This report sums up the current state of knowledge on the pollution of the Baltic Sea as an aquatic system. Mineral oil hydrocarbons, halogenated hydrocarbons, heavy metals and radionuclides are pinpointed as the main causes of pollution. Furthermore, the work presents the results of investigations carried through for several years on the contamination of salt-water fishes. The causes and consequences of nutrient accumulation in the Baltic Sea are discussed. (VT) [de

Seasonal changes of 137Cs in benthic plants from the southern Baltic Sea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tamara Zalewska

2012-01-01

137 Cs activity concentrations were determined in samples of macrophytes Polysiphonia fucoides (red algae) and Zostera marina (vascular plant) collected during the entire vegetation season in the Gulf of Gdansk in the southern Baltic Sea. The measurements showed considerable seasonality of 137 Cs activity in both species; an increase of cesium concentrations was observed from spring to autumn with maximal levels 49.1 ± 1.4 Bq kg d.w. -1 (P. fucoides) and 14.5 ± 1.0 Bq kg d.w. -1 (Z. marina) in late autumn. 137 Cs concentrations observed in a given season are the result of a number of processes, the intensity of which can differ depending on external environmental conditions. The effects of these processes can differ and their directions can frequently be opposite to one another. The examined macrophytobenthic plant species could serve as bioindicators of radionuclide pollution for monitoring purposes on condition that the samples of plants are taken within a strictly defined period of the year to give comparable results and to supply realistic information about pollution levels. (author)

Long-term temporal and spatial trends in eutrophication status of the Baltic Sea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Jesper; Carstensen, Jacob; Conley, Daniel J.

2017-01-01

the last 50–100 years. Secondly, the Baltic Sea is naturally susceptible to nutrient enrichment due to a combination of long retention times and stratification restricting ventilation of deep waters. Here, based on a unique data set collated from research activities and long-term monitoring programs, we......Much of the Baltic Sea is currently classified as ‘affected by eutrophication’. The causes for this are twofold. First, current levels of nutrient inputs (nitrogen and phosphorus) from human activities exceed the natural processing capacity with an accumulation of nutrients in the Baltic Sea over...

Environmental Information Sources on the Net.

Science.gov (United States)

Raeder, Aggi

1997-01-01

Discusses environmental information needs of business professionals and provides an annotated list of Web sites serving as information sources. Highlights include "meta sites", government, health, law, engineering, education, organizations, and environmental news, as well as selected environmental "hot topics." (AEF)

The Carbon Dioxide System in the Baltic Sea Surface Waters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wesslander, Karin

2011-05-15

The concentration of carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) in the atmosphere is steadily increasing because of human activities such as fossil fuel burning. To understand how this is affecting the planet, several pieces of knowledge of the CO{sub 2} system have to be investigated. One piece is how the coastal seas, which are used by people and influenced by industrialization, are functioning. In this thesis, the CO{sub 2} system in the Baltic Sea surface water has been investigated using observations from the last century to the present. The Baltic Sea is characterized of a restricted water exchange with the open ocean and a large inflow of river water. The CO{sub 2} system, including parameters such as pH and partial pressure of CO{sub 2} (pCO{sub 2}), has large seasonal and inter-annual variability in the Baltic Sea. These parameters are affected by several processes, such as air-sea gas exchange, physical mixing, and biological processes. Inorganic carbon is assimilated in the primary production and pCO{sub 2} declines to approx150 muatm in summer. In winter, pCO{sub 2} levels increase because of prevailing mineralization and mixing processes. The wind-mixed surface layer deepens to the halocline (approx60 m) and brings CO{sub 2}- enriched water to the surface. Winter pCO{sub 2} may be as high as 600 muatm in the surface water. The CO{sub 2} system is also exposed to short-term variations caused by the daily biological cycle and physical events such as upwelling. A cruise was made in the central Baltic Sea to make synoptic measurements of oceanographic, chemical, and meteorological parameters with high temporal resolution. Large short-term variations were found in pCO{sub 2} and oxygen (O{sub 2}), which were highly correlated. The diurnal variation of pCO{sub 2} was up to 40 muatm. The CO{sub 2} system in the Baltic Sea changed as the industrialization increased around 1950, which was demonstrated using a coupled physical-biogeochemical model of the CO{sub 2} system

Ferry traffic in the Baltic Sea Region in south – north corridor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ernest Czermański

2010-12-01

Full Text Available All countries form the Baltic Sea Region are strongly economically connected with each other. International trade inbound the Region is usually realized by shipping lines, especially ro-ro and ferry lines. Ferry traffic on the BSR shows specific features, which draw a distinctions between other regions. In this article was tried to analized quantity and directions of maritime traffic in the BSR in years 2006 – 2008. Those period was excellent time for market growing for all owners. And more over – the analysis was made for main directions in the Baltic Sea Region – between Norway, Sweden and Finland – versus polish and german Baltic sea ports.

An Anthropology of Marketplace Behavior. Aspects of embeddedness in Norwegian entrepreneurship in the Baltics

OpenAIRE

Cimdina, Agnese

2012-01-01

Based on fieldwork undertaken between 2005 and 2008, this thesis provides an anthropological analysis of cross border Norwegian entrepreneurship in the Baltics in a timeframe that spans from the middle of the 1990s to 2008. The Baltic states had barely reinstated their independence from the Soviet Union when the Nordic countries, including Norway, began to devise strategies to enter these emerging markets. In the 1990s, the growing Baltic markets, as they were in such close proximity to ...

Fish, fishing, and pollutant reduction in the Baltic Sea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

MacKenzie, Brian; Almesjö, L.; Hansson, S.

2004-01-01

The Baltic Sea is heavily polluted yet supports major Commercial fisheries for cod (Gadus morhua), herring (Clupea harengus), and sprat (Sprattus sprattus). Emissions of persistent organic pollutants, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and DDT, were high during the 1960s and 1970s, and conc......The Baltic Sea is heavily polluted yet supports major Commercial fisheries for cod (Gadus morhua), herring (Clupea harengus), and sprat (Sprattus sprattus). Emissions of persistent organic pollutants, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and DDT, were high during the 1960s and 1970s...

Identification of potential target levels for Central Baltic Sea fishing mortalities, taking multispecies interactions into account

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vinther, Morten; Neuenfeldt, Stefan; Eero, Margit

2012-01-01

for implementation in management, however, the multispecies aspects depend on predation data mainly from the 1980s and there is an urgent need to update the information base. The current productivity regime and spatial distribution of fish stocks in the Baltic is different from the earlier period when predation data...

Reconstructing Holocene temperature and salinity variations in the western Baltic Sea region : A multi-proxy comparison from the Little Belt (IODP Expedition 347, Site M0059)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kotthoff, Ulrich; Groeneveld, Jeroen; Ash, Jeanine; Fanget, Anne-Sophie; Krupinski, Nadine Quintana; Peyron, Odile; Stepanova, Anna; Warnock, Jonathan; van Helmond, N.A.G.M.; Passey, Benjamin H.; Clausen, Ole Rono; Bennike, O.; Andrén, Elinor; Granoszewski, Wojciech; Andrén, Thomas; Filipsson, Helena L.; Solveig-Seidenkrantz, M.; Slomp, C.P.; Bauersachs, Thorsten

2017-01-01

Sediment records recovered from the Baltic Sea during Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 347 provide a unique opportunity to study paleoenvironmental and -climate change in central/northern Europe. Such studies contribute to a better understanding of how environmental parameters change in

Impact of hypoxia on consumption of Baltic cod in a multispecies stock assessment context

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Teschner, E.C.; Kraus, G.; Neuenfeldt, Stefan

2010-01-01

The Baltic Sea is characterised by a heterogeneous oceanographic environment. The deep water layers forming the habitat of Baltic cod (Gadus morhua callarias L.) are subjected to frequently occurring pronounced anoxic conditions. Adverse oxygen conditions result in physiological stress for organi......The Baltic Sea is characterised by a heterogeneous oceanographic environment. The deep water layers forming the habitat of Baltic cod (Gadus morhua callarias L.) are subjected to frequently occurring pronounced anoxic conditions. Adverse oxygen conditions result in physiological stress...... for organisms living under these conditions. For cod e.g. a direct relationship between oxygen availability and food intake with a decreasing ingestion rate at hypoxia could be revealed. In the present study, the effects of oxygen deficiency on consumption rates were investigated and how these translate...... to stock size estimates in multi-species models. Based on results from laboratory experiments, a model was fitted to evacuation rates at different oxygen levels and integrated into the existing consumption model for Baltic cod. Individual mean oxygen corrected consumption rates were 0.1–10.9% lower than...

Daily Radiation Budget of the Baltic Sea Surface from Satellite Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zapadka Tomasz

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Recently developed system for assessment of radiation budget for the Baltic Sea has been presented and verified. The system utilizes data from various sources: satellite, model and in situ measurements. It has been developed within the SatBałtyk project (Satellite Monitoring of the Baltic Sea Environment - www.satbaltyk.eu where the energy radiation budget is one of the key element. The SatBałtyk system generates daily maps of the all components of radiation budget on every day basis. We show the scheme of making daily maps, applied algorithms and empirical data collection within the system. An empirical verification of the system has been carried out based on empirical data collected on the oil rig placed on the Baltic Sea. This verification concerned all the components of the surface radiation budget. The average daily NET products are estimated with statistical error ca. 13 Wm-2. The biggest absolute statistical error is for LWd component and equals 14 Wm-2. The relative error in relation to the average annual values for whole Baltic is the biggest for SWu and reaches 25%. All estimated components have correlation coefficient above 0.91.

Life on the margin: genetic isolation and diversity loss in a peripheral marine ecosystem, the Baltic Sea.

Science.gov (United States)

Johannesson, Kerstin; André, Carl

2006-07-01

Marginal populations are often isolated and under extreme selection pressures resulting in anomalous genetics. Consequently, ecosystems that are geographically and ecologically marginal might have a large share of genetically atypical populations, in need of particular concern in management of these ecosystems. To test this prediction, we analysed genetic data from 29 species inhabiting the low saline Baltic Sea, a geographically and ecologically marginal ecosystem. On average Baltic populations had lost genetic diversity compared to Atlantic populations: a pattern unrelated to dispersal capacity, generation time of species and taxonomic group of organism, but strongly related to type of genetic marker (mitochondrial DNA loci had lost c. 50% diversity, and nuclear loci 10%). Analyses of genetic isolation by geographic distance revealed clinal patterns of differentiation between Baltic and Atlantic regions. For a majority of species, clines were sigmoid with a sharp slope around the Baltic Sea entrance, indicating impeded gene flows between Baltic and Atlantic populations. Some species showed signs of allele frequencies being perturbed at the edge of their distribution inside the Baltic Sea. Despite the short geological history of the Baltic Sea (8000 years), populations inhabiting the Baltic have evolved substantially different from Atlantic populations, probably as a consequence of isolation and bottlenecks, as well as selection on adaptive traits. In addition, the Baltic Sea also acts a refuge for unique evolutionary lineages. This marginal ecosystem is thus vulnerable but also exceedingly valuable, housing unique genes, genotypes and populations that constitute an important genetic resource for management and conservation.

Atmospheric forcing of decadal Baltic Sea level variability in the last 200 years. A statistical analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Huenicke, B. [GKSS-Forschungszentrum Geesthacht GmbH (Germany). Inst. fuer Kuestenforschung

2008-11-06

This study aims at the estimation of the impact of different atmospheric factors on the past sealevel variations (up to 200 years) in the Baltic Sea by statistically analysing the relationship between Baltic Sea level records and observational and proxy-based reconstructed climatic data sets. The focus lies on the identification and possible quantification of the contribution of sealevel pressure (wind), air-temperature and precipitation to the low-frequency (decadal and multi-decadal) variability of Baltic Sea level. It is known that the wind forcing is the main factor explaining average Baltic Sea level variability at inter-annual to decadal timescales, especially in wintertime. In this thesis it is statistically estimated to what extent other regional climate factors contribute to the spatially heterogeneous Baltic Sea level variations around the isostatic trend at multi-decadal timescales. Although the statistical analysis cannot be completely conclusive, as the potential climate drivers are all statistically interrelated to some degree, the results indicate that precipitation should be taken into account as an explanatory variable for sea-level variations. On the one hand it has been detected that the amplitude of the annual cycle of Baltic Sea level has increased throughout the 20th century and precipitation seems to be the only factor among those analysed (wind through SLP field, barometric effect, temperature and precipitation) that can account for this evolution. On the other hand, precipitation increases the ability to hindcast inter-annual variations of sea level in some regions and seasons, especially in the Southern Baltic in summertime. The mechanism by which precipitation exerts its influence on Baltic Sea level is not ascertained in this statistical analysis due to the lack of long salinity time series. This result, however, represents a working hypothesis that can be confirmed or disproved by long simulations of the Baltic Sea system - ocean

Denitrification in the water column of the central Baltic Sea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dalsgaard, Tage; De Brabandere, Loreto; Hall, Per O. J.

2013-01-01

Removal of fixed nitrogen in the water column of the eastern Gotland Basin, central Baltic Sea, was studied during two cruises in September 2008 and August 2010. The water column was stratified with anoxic sulfidic bottom water meeting oxic nitrate containing water at the oxic–anoxic interface......3 or sulfide concentrations were converted to in situ rates using the measured water column concentrations of NO3 and sulfide and the actual measured relations between NO3 and sulfide concentrations and enitrification rates. In situ denitrification ranged from 0.24 to 15.9 nM N2 h1. Assuming...... area. Even with an active denitrification layer of 3–6 m thickness the pelagic denitrification per unit area clearly exceeded sediment denitrification rates elsewhere in the Baltic Sea. When extrapolated to the entire Baltic Proper (BP) denitrification in the water column was in the range of 132...

Factors affecting metal and radionuclide pollution in the Baltic sea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin Lodenius

2016-12-01

Full Text Available External pollution load in the Baltic Sea originates from urban, agricultural and industrial sources. Emissions of heavy metals have decreased substantially in the catchment area but the temporal trends are not always significant and differ with sample, area and pollutant. The most significant source of anthropogenic radioactivity in the Baltic Sea is fallout from the Chernobyl accident in 1986. Many factors affect the future development of pollutant concentrations including anthropogenic emissions, political decisions and changes in salinity, temperature and water currents, in eutrophication and oxygen status, in fisheries and in atmospheric deposition of pollutants. Large scale changes like eutrophication and climate change affect ecosystems in many ways, directly and indirectly, causing biological and abiotic effects. These factors are interrelated and difficult to predict. Measures aiming to enhance the ecological status of the Baltic Sea will certainly give positive results but this will take at least several decades.

Evolution study of contamination Russian Baltic fish by PCDD/F and WHO-PCB

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shelepchikov, A.; Brodsky, E. [Inst. of Ecology and Evolution of Russian Academy of Sciences (IPEE RAS) (Russian Federation); Shenderyuk, V.; Baholdina, L. [Atlantic Research Inst. of Fish Industry and Oceanography, (AtlantNIRO) (Russian Federation)

2004-09-15

Baltic Sea is well known as the most polluted sea in the world, but its fish products have a significant role in diet of Baltic countries habitants. In Dioxin 2003 meeting we have present first results of analysis of Baltic fishes caught by Russian fisherman for market. The results confirmed a rather high level of pollution in the Baltic seafood by PCDD/Fs and have shown necessity of the further researches. Although PCDD/Fs profile in fisher's body is not consist unsteady and was formed under affection of various factors, it was obvious that essential path comes with PCB; also previously were found that WHO-TEQ{sub PCB} in seafood could exceed WHO-TEQ{sub PCDD/F} level. In given works we present results of the analysis of two freshwater species of fishes and updating research of former analyzed kinds, included of WHO-PCBs determination.

Development of international fisheries for the eastern Baltic cod ( Gadus morhua ) from the late 1880s until 1938

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eero, Margit; MacKenzie, Brian; Karlsdottir, H.M.

2007-01-01

of indicators of fishing effort and qualitative information on developments in fishing technology. This information has been assembled for different countries and locations in the Baltic Sea. We first summarize the multi-decadal development of national cod fisheries and their relative importance during......The paper provides an overview of eastern Baltic cod (Gadus morhua) fisheries from the end of the 1880s until 1938, in order to improve the knowledge of long-term stock dynamics. The data compiled and included in the study comprise catches and economic values of exploited fish species, time series...... the first decades of the 20th century. We then assess whether these data can be used to estimate the relative roles of fishing and ecosystem changes on variations in catches. We conclude that the assembled data reveal biologically meaningful variations in the state of the cod stock and that some...

Grazing rate of zebra mussel in a shallow eutrophicated bay of the Baltic Sea.

Science.gov (United States)

Oganjan, Katarina; Lauringson, Velda

2014-12-01

Benthic suspension feeding is an important process in coastal ecosystems. Among all the World's oceans, coastal ecosystems are the most modified by human impact and changing at accelerating pace. It is complicated to understand, how various environmental factors affect feeding rates of suspension feeders in their natural habitats. Thus, shapes of such relationships are poorly described for several intersections of environmental gradients. In this study, relationships between grazing rates of an invasive bivalve Dreissena polymorpha and ambient environmental factors were investigated in a turbid eutrophic bay of the central Baltic Sea using a novel modelling method of Boosted Regression Trees (BRT), a statistical tool able to handle non-normal distributions, complex relationships, and interactive effects. Feeding rates of mussels were derived from field populations by measuring the content of algal pigments in specimens collected from their natural habitat. The content of pigments was converted to feeding rate separately each time using field experiments measuring simultaneously the content of pigments and biodeposition of mussels. The results suggest that feeding rates of D. polymorpha are related to several environmental factors which gradients outreach the optimal range for the local mussel population. All the observed effects were non-linear with complex shapes. Variability along the resource gradient was the most important predictor of mussel feeding, followed by salinity and disturbance caused by wind. The most important interaction occurred between disturbance and resource gradient, while feeding function showed more plasticity along the latter. Mapping of environmental tipping points with the aid of machine learning methods may enable to concentrate the most relevant information about ecological functions worldwide. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nuclear installations in the baltic sea region and the stake holders cooperation: a crucial step towards energy security, environmental sustainability and political stability in the region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zakaria, M.; Mandere, N.; Olsson, L.

2006-01-01

Radiation hazards are trans-boundary. The prevention of accidents must be managed locally. But the awareness, preparedness, and the responsibilities in the case of emergencies must be managed at the local and regional level, and must rely on close interaction between the local and regional levels. The Baltic Sea Region contains over 40 nuclear reactors contributing to energy security, but also posing a potential threat to human, environmental, and political security. The aim of this paper is to integrate the four fields of security: health, environment, energy, and political by analysing awareness, preparedness responsibility and decision making related to nuclear installations. With increasing political, economical, cultural and physical (in term of energy infrastructure) integration, the region needs to take a comprehensive approach to create adequate structure for managing risks and thereby promote security. (authors)

Nuclear installations in the baltic sea region and the stake holders cooperation: a crucial step towards energy security, environmental sustainability and political stability in the region

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zakaria, M.; Mandere, N.; Olsson, L. [Lund Univ., Centre for Sustainability Studies (LUCSUS) (Sweden)

2006-07-01

Radiation hazards are trans-boundary. The prevention of accidents must be managed locally. But the awareness, preparedness, and the responsibilities in the case of emergencies must be managed at the local and regional level, and must rely on close interaction between the local and regional levels. The Baltic Sea Region contains over 40 nuclear reactors contributing to energy security, but also posing a potential threat to human, environmental, and political security. The aim of this paper is to integrate the four fields of security: health, environment, energy, and political by analysing awareness, preparedness responsibility and decision making related to nuclear installations. With increasing political, economical, cultural and physical (in term of energy infrastructure) integration, the region needs to take a comprehensive approach to create adequate structure for managing risks and thereby promote security. (authors)

Baltic herring fisheries management: stakeholder views to frame the problem

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Haapasaari, Päivi Elisabet; Mäntyniemi, Samu; Kuikka, Sakari

2012-01-01

Comprehensive problem framing that includes different perspectives is essential for holistic understanding of complex problems and as the first step in building models. We involved five stakeholders to frame the management problem of the Central Baltic herring fishery. By using the Bayesian belief...... nongovernmental organization included markets and fishing industry influences. Management measures were considered to have a relatively small impact on the development of the herring stock; their impact on socioeconomic objectives was greater. Overall, the framings by these stakeholders propose a focus...... networks (BBNs) approach, the views of the stakeholders were built into graphical influence diagrams representing variables and their dependencies. The views of the scientists involved concentrated on biological concerns, whereas the fisher, the manager, and the representative of an environmental...

Recreational Value of the Baltic Sea:

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zandersen, Marianne

2018-01-01

The Baltic Sea plays a significant role for recreational use in the nine littoral countries with more than 70% of the population visiting the coast, representing some 80 million recreation visits annually. Understanding the values associated with coastal recreation and the potential welfare chang...

Temporal trends in dioxins (polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin and dibenzofurans) and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls in Baltic herring (Clupea harengus).

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Aroha; Hedman, Jenny E; Nyberg, Elisabeth; Haglund, Peter; Cousins, Ian T; Wiberg, Karin; Bignert, Anders

2013-08-15

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyl (dl-PCBs) concentrations in Baltic herring (Clupea harengus) have been relatively stable since the mid to late 1990s. It is unclear why concentrations in Baltic herring are not following the observed decreases in other environmental matrices. Here, changes in long-term temporal trends in Baltic herring were examined. A number of biological variables were examined alongside the temporal trends to investigate whether fish biology e.g., growth (length, weight, age), lipid content, reproductive phase or fishing date may provide an explanation for the temporal trends observed. Significant (p<0.05) decreasing trends were observed for PCDD/F toxic equivalents (TEQPCDD/F) at three of the four sites (lipid weight (lw) and wet weight (ww), Swedish west coast lw only); however, other TEQ values e.g., TEQPCDD, TEQPCDF, TEQdl-PCB, TEQPCDD/F+dl-PCB were inconsistent, decreasing at some sites but not others. In the most recent 10 years of data, fewer significant decreases were seen overall. Over the examined time period, significant decreases (Bothnian Bay, p<0.01, southern Baltic Proper, p<0.02) and increases (Swedish west coast, p<0.02) in lipid content, growth dilution or lack thereof, and significant changes in age were observed. However herring were not randomly selected which biases this result. Continual efforts to decrease PCDD/F and dl-PCB emissions and to locate/reduce hotspots are necessary, while bearing in mind that herring biology may be impeding faster decreases of these chemicals. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Transgranichnaja korporativnaja integracija v Baltijskom regione [Transborder corporate integration in the Baltic Sea Region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kuznetsov A. V.

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The paper examines flows of foreign direct investment within the Baltic region. The author demonstrates close investment ties among the EU members, which are of special importance for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Transborder corporate integration in the region is characterized by significant imbalances. In many aspects, it can be viewed as Sweden’s economic expansion or development of domestic markets for northern European companies. Although many German, Polish and Russian companies are involved in corporate integration in the Baltic region, other vectors of their foreign economic relations are still more important for them. As a result, the integration of Russian business in the Baltic part of the European integration area is still rather weak despite Russia’s considerable foreign direct investment in the Baltic States.

The Baltics on Their Way towards a Circular Economy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Grigoryan A. A.

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Circular economy has been studied extensively both in Europe and worldwide. It is largely viewed as a potential strategy for societal development, aimed to increase prosperity while reducing dependence on raw materials and energy. Many businesses regard circular economy as a way to enhance economic growth and increase profits. Governments across the world actively engage in the discussion about the benefits of a transition to a circular economy and about its impact on employment, economic growth, and the environment. This paper aims to study the major issues of circular economy, to identify its advantages, and to offer an insight into the transition stage the Baltic States are undergoing today on their way to circular economy. It is stressed that the Baltic countries are not fully using the opportunities offered by a circular economy. For example, Latvia’s, Lithuania’s, and Estonia’s recycling rates are significantly below those of other European countries. The Baltics depend heavily on EU financial support. An increase in funding will contribute to the implementation of circular economy technologies.

12 CFR 408.7 - Environmental information.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Environmental information. 408.7 Section 408.7 Banks and Banking EXPORT-IMPORT BANK OF THE UNITED STATES PROCEDURES FOR COMPLIANCE WITH THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT Eximbank Implementing Procedures § 408.7 Environmental information. Interested persons...

Structure and functioning of the acid-base system in the Baltic Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Kuliński, Karol; Schneider, Bernd; Szymczycha, Beata; Stokowski, Marcin

2017-12-01

The marine acid-base system is relatively well understood for oceanic waters. Its structure and functioning is less obvious for the coastal and shelf seas due to a number of regionally specific anomalies. In this review article we collect and integrate existing knowledge of the acid-base system in the Baltic Sea. Hydrographical and biogeochemical characteristics of the Baltic Sea, as manifested in horizontal and vertical salinity gradients, permanent stratification of the water column, eutrophication, high organic-matter concentrations and high anthropogenic pressure, make the acid-base system complex. In this study, we summarize the general knowledge of the marine acid-base system as well as describe the peculiarities identified and reported for the Baltic Sea specifically. In this context we discuss issues such as dissociation constants in brackish water, different chemical alkalinity models including contributions by organic acid-base systems, long-term changes in total alkalinity, anomalies of borate alkalinity, and the acid-base effects of biomass production and mineralization. Finally, we identify research gaps and specify limitations concerning the Baltic Sea acid-base system.

The Scandinavian baltic pancreatic club (SBPC) database

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olesen, Søren S; Poulsen, Jakob Lykke; Drewes, Asbjørn M

2017-01-01

OBJECTIVES: Chronic pancreatitis (CP) is a multifaceted disease associated with several risk factors and a complex clinical presentation. We established the Scandinavian Baltic Pancreatic Club (SBPC) Database to characterise and study the natural history of CP in a Northern European cohort. Here......, we describe the design of the database and characteristics of the study cohort. METHODS: Nine centres from six different countries in the Scandinavian-Baltic region joined the database. Patients with definitive or probable CP (M-ANNHEIM diagnostic criteria) were included. Standardised case report...... forms were used to collect several assessment variables including disease aetiology, duration of CP, preceding acute pancreatitis, as well as symptoms, complications, and treatments. The clinical stage of CP was characterised according to M-ANNNHEIM. Yearly follow-up is planned for all patients. RESULTS...

Site-specific cancer risk in the Baltic cohort of Chernobyl cleanup workers, 1986-2007.

Science.gov (United States)

Rahu, Kaja; Hakulinen, Timo; Smailyte, Giedre; Stengrevics, Aivars; Auvinen, Anssi; Inskip, Peter D; Boice, John D; Rahu, Mati

2013-09-01

To assess site-specific cancer risk in the Baltic cohort of Chernobyl cleanup workers, 1986-2007. The Baltic cohort includes 17,040 men from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania who participated in the environmental cleanup after the accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station in 1986-1991 and who were followed up for cancer incidence until the end of 2007. Cancer cases diagnosed in the cohort and in the male population of each country were identified from the respective national cancer registers. The proportional incidence ratio (PIR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to estimate the site-specific cancer risk in the cohort. For comparison and as it was possible, the site-specific standardised incidence ratio (SIR) was calculated for the Estonian sub-cohort, which was not feasible for the other countries. Overall, 756 cancer cases were reported during 1986-2007. A higher proportion of thyroid cancers in relation to the male population was found (PIR=2.76; 95%CI 1.63-4.36), especially among those who started their mission shortly after the accident, in April-May 1986 (PIR=6.38; 95%CI 2.34-13.89). Also, an excess of oesophageal cancers was noted (PIR=1.52; 95% CI 1.06-2.11). No increased PIRs for leukaemia or radiation-related cancer sites combined were observed. PIRs and SIRs for the Estonian sub-cohort demonstrated the same site-specific cancer risk pattern. Consistent evidence of an increase in radiation-related cancers in the Baltic cohort was not observed with the possible exception of thyroid cancer, where conclusions are hampered by known medical examination including thyroid screening among cleanup workers. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Climate Envelope Modeling and Dispersal Simulations Show Little Risk of Range Extension of the Shipworm, Teredo navalis (L.), in the Baltic Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Appelqvist, Christin; Al-Hamdani, Zyad K.; Jonsson, Per R.; Havenhand, Jon N.

2015-01-01

The shipworm, Teredo navalis, is absent from most of the Baltic Sea. In the last 20 years, increased frequency of T. navalis has been reported along the southern Baltic Sea coasts of Denmark, Germany, and Sweden, indicating possible range-extensions into previously unoccupied areas. We evaluated the effects of historical and projected near-future changes in salinity, temperature, and oxygen on the risk of spread of T. navalis in the Baltic. Specifically, we developed a simple, GIS-based, mechanistic climate envelope model to predict the spatial distribution of favourable conditions for adult reproduction and larval metamorphosis of T. navalis, based on published environmental tolerances to these factors. In addition, we used a high-resolution three-dimensional hydrographic model to simulate the probability of spread of T. navalis larvae within the study area. Climate envelope modeling showed that projected near-future climate change is not likely to change the overall distribution of T. navalis in the region, but will prolong the breeding season and increase the risk of shipworm establishment at the margins of the current range. Dispersal simulations indicated that the majority of larvae were philopatric, but those that spread over a wider area typically spread to areas unfavourable for their survival. Overall, therefore, we found no substantive evidence for climate-change related shifts in the distribution of T. navalis in the Baltic Sea, and no evidence for increased risk of spread in the near-future. PMID:25768305

Climate envelope modeling and dispersal simulations show little risk of range extension of the Shipworm, Teredo navalis (L., in the Baltic sea.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christin Appelqvist

Full Text Available The shipworm, Teredo navalis, is absent from most of the Baltic Sea. In the last 20 years, increased frequency of T. navalis has been reported along the southern Baltic Sea coasts of Denmark, Germany, and Sweden, indicating possible range-extensions into previously unoccupied areas. We evaluated the effects of historical and projected near-future changes in salinity, temperature, and oxygen on the risk of spread of T. navalis in the Baltic. Specifically, we developed a simple, GIS-based, mechanistic climate envelope model to predict the spatial distribution of favourable conditions for adult reproduction and larval metamorphosis of T. navalis, based on published environmental tolerances to these factors. In addition, we used a high-resolution three-dimensional hydrographic model to simulate the probability of spread of T. navalis larvae within the study area. Climate envelope modeling showed that projected near-future climate change is not likely to change the overall distribution of T. navalis in the region, but will prolong the breeding season and increase the risk of shipworm establishment at the margins of the current range. Dispersal simulations indicated that the majority of larvae were philopatric, but those that spread over a wider area typically spread to areas unfavourable for their survival. Overall, therefore, we found no substantive evidence for climate-change related shifts in the distribution of T. navalis in the Baltic Sea, and no evidence for increased risk of spread in the near-future.

Baltic air wars intensify / Dorian Ziedonis

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Ziedonis, Dorian

2008-01-01

Leedu lennufirma FlyLAL pidi maksma ära 40 000 euro suuruse trahvi, et firma lennuk saaks Riia lennuväljalt lahkuda. Varem oli FlyLAL nõudnud Riia Lennujaamalt kompensatsiooni, kuna lennujaam oli võimaldanud Läti lennufirmal airBaltic maksta väiksemaid lennujaamatasusid

Nitrification and the ammonia-oxidizing communities in the central Baltic Sea water column

Science.gov (United States)

Jäntti, Helena; Ward, Bess B.; Dippner, Joachim W.; Hietanen, Susanna

2018-03-01

The redoxclines that form between the oxic and anoxic water layers in the central Baltic Sea are sites of intensive nitrogen cycling. To gain better understanding of nitrification, we measured the biogeochemical properties along with potential nitrification rates and analyzed the assemblages of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and archaea using functional gene microarrays. To estimate nitrification in the entire water column, we constructed a regression model for the nitrification rates and applied it to the conditions prevailing in the area in 2008-2012. The highest ammonia oxidation rates were found in a thin layer at the top of the redoxcline and the rates quickly decreased below detection limit when oxygen was exhausted. This is probably because extensive suboxic layers, which are known to harbor pelagic nitrification, are formed only for short periods after inflows in the Baltic Sea. The nitrification rates were some of the highest measured in the water columns, but the thickness of the layer where conditions were favorable for nitrification, was very small and it remained fairly stable between years. However, the depth of the nitrification layer varied substantially between years, particularly in the eastern Gotland Basin (EGB) due to turbulence in the water column. The ammonia oxidizer communities clustered differently between the eastern and western Gotland Basin (WGB) and the composition of ammonia-oxidizing assemblages correlated with the environmental variables. The ammonia oxidizer community composition was more even in the EGB, which may be related to physical instability of the redoxcline that does not allow predominance of a single archetype, whereas in the WGB, where the position of the redoxcline is more constant, the ammonia-oxidizing community was less even. Overall the ammonia-oxidizing communities in the Baltic Sea redoxclines were very evenly distributed compared to other marine environments where microarrays have been applied previously.

US Baltic Foundation award winners from Estonia are Arvo Pärt and Enn Kunila

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

2010-01-01

Washingtonis toimunud tänavusel U.S Baltic Foundationi auhinnagalal tunnustati kahte eestlast: helilooja Arvo Pärti auhinnaga Baltimaade kuvandi rikastamise eest (Baltic Image Enhancement Award) ja ettevõtjast kunstikollektsionääri Enn Kunilat Baltimaade filantroopiaauhinnaga

Using alternative biological information in stock assessment: condition-corrected natural mortality of Eastern Baltic cod

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Casini, Michele; Eero, Margit; Carlshamre, Sofia

2016-01-01

) assumed in the analytical stock assessment model. The results in terms of Spawning Stock Biomass (SSB), Fishing mortality (F) and Recruitment (R) in the final year from the stock assessment using M values adjusted for low condition were up to 40% different compared with the assessment assuming a constant......The inclusion of biological and ecological aspects in the assessment of fish population status is one of the bases for an ecosystem-based fisheries management. During the past two decades the Eastern Baltic cod has experienced a drastic reduction in growth and body condition that may have affected...

Microplastics in sea coastal zone: Lessons learned from the Baltic amber.

Science.gov (United States)

Chubarenko, Irina; Stepanova, Natalia

2017-05-01

Baltic amber, adored for its beauty already in Homer's Odyssey (ca. 800 B.C.E), has its material density close to that of wide-spread plastics like polyamide, polystyrene, or acrylic. Migrations of amber stones in the sea and their massive washing ashore have been monitored by Baltic citizens for ages. Based on the collected information, we present the hypothesis on the behaviour of microplastic particles in sea coastal zone. Fresh-to-strong winds generate surface waves, currents and roll-structures, whose joint effect washes ashore from the underwater slope both amber stones and plastics - and carries them back to the sea in a few days. Analysis of underlying hydrophysical processes suggests that sea coastal zone under stormy winds plays a role of a mill for plastics, and negatively buoyant pieces seem to repeatedly migrate between beaches and underwater slopes until they are broken into small enough fragments that can be transported by currents to deeper areas and deposited out of reach of stormy waves. Direct observations on microplastics migrations are urged to prove the hypothesis. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

PARTICIPATORY GOVERNANCE IN THE PUBLIC HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS OF THE SCANDINAVIAN AND BALTIC COUNTRIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stefanescu Aurelia

2011-12-01

Full Text Available The diminished trust of citizens in the public sector, the increased complexity of policy issues and the reforms in accordance with the new public management principles generate the need of focusing more extensively on participatory governance. Participatory governance can be defined as the genuine engagement of citizens and other organizations in the formulation of policies and strategies, in the decision-making process from the public sector and in the implementation of the decisions. The present paper's objectives are to define the concept of participatory governance, to argue in favor of implementing it in the public sector and to find to what extent public healthcare institutions from Scandinavian and Baltic countries publish information on participatory governance and how they perceive community engagement. The research findings are that the information on participatory governance disclosed on the websites of relevant institutions from within the Scandinavian and Baltic public healthcare systems is scarce. The countries with the greatest concern for community engagement are Denmark and Sweden. It is argued that there should be a shift in focus within the public sector in general and within the healthcare system in particular, so that citizens are genuinely involved in the relevant processes and their satisfaction is indeed at an adequate level.

Adaptive governance of the Baltic Sea - lessons from elsewhere

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matilda Valman

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Governance of marine resources is increasingly characterized by integrated, cross sectoral and ecosystem based approaches. Such approaches require that existing governing bodies have an ability to adapt to ecosystem dynamics, while also providing transparent and legitimate outcomes. Here, we investigate how the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (HELCOM, the international governing body for the Baltic Sea, could improve its prospects for working with the ecosystem approach, drawing from the literature on adaptive governance. We construct an ideal type of adaptive governance to which we compare the way in which HELCOM is operating and relate these dynamics to two other international marine environment governance organizations, the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI-CFF and the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR. We conclude that HELCOM deviates from an ideal type of adaptive governance in several ways but also that the other two case studies provide empirical support for potential ways in which HELCOM could improve its adaptive capacity. Key aspects where HELCOM could improve include increasing stakeholder participation – both in information sharing and decision making. Further, HELCOM need to develop evaluation mechanisms, secure compliance to improve adaptive capacity and organizational effectiveness, which entails the development of structures for conflict resolution. Finally, HELCOM need to increase communication and harmonization between different levels of authority.

Juvenile flatfish in the northern Baltic Sea - long-term decline and potential links to habitat characteristics

Science.gov (United States)

Jokinen, Henri; Wennhage, Håkan; Ollus, Victoria; Aro, Eero; Norkko, Alf

2016-01-01

Flatfish in the northern Baltic Sea are facing multiple environmental pressures due to on-going large-scale ecosystem changes linked to eutrophication and climate change. Shallow juvenile habitats of flatfishes are expected to be especially susceptible to these environmental pressures. Using previously unpublished historical and present-state data on juvenile flatfish in nursery areas along the Finnish coast we demonstrate a drastic (up to 40 ×) decline in 1-Y-O flounder densities since the 1980s and a particularly low current occurrence of both flounders and turbots in several known juvenile habitats. As a consequence of ongoing coastal eutrophication vegetation coverage and filamentous algae have generally increased in shallow areas. We examined the predicted negative effect of vegetation/algae by exploring quantitative relationships between juvenile flatfish (flounder and turbot) occurrence and vegetation/algae among other environmental factors in shallow juvenile habitats. Despite sparse occurrence of juveniles we found a significant negative relationship between flatfish abundance and vegetation cover, implicating eutrophication as a potential major driver affecting the value of juvenile habitat. Shallow littoral habitats play a particularly central role for flatfish due to the spatial concentration of fish in these areas during the critical juvenile stage. Despite their importance, these areas have been relatively poorly studied in the northern Baltic Sea, which makes it difficult to quantify overall changes in environmental conditions and to relate these changes to flatfish recruitment. The low present-state flatfish densities recorded preclude strong inferences of the role of habitat quality to be drawn. Our study does, however, provide a baseline for future assessment. Based on existing evidence, we cannot thus establish any bottlenecks but hypothesize that the current low occurrence of juvenile flatfish, and the population decline of flounder on the

Use of electroconvulsive therapy in the Baltic states.

Science.gov (United States)

Lõokene, Margus; Kisuro, Aigars; Mačiulis, Valentinas; Banaitis, Valdas; Ungvari, Gabor S; Gazdag, Gábor

2014-07-01

While the use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has been investigated worldwide, nothing is known about its use in the Baltic states. The purpose of this study was thus to explore ECT practice in the three Baltic countries. A 21-item, semi-structured questionnaire was sent out to all psychiatric inpatient settings that provided ECT in 2010. In Lithuania, four services provided ECT in 2010. Only modified ECT with anaesthesia and muscle relaxation is performed in the country. In 2010, approximately 120 patients received ECT, i.e., 0.375 patients/10,000 population. Only two centres offer ECT in Latvia. The first centre treated only three patients with ECT in 2010, while the second centre six patients. In both centres outdated Soviet machines are used. The main indication for ECT was severe, malignant catatonia. ECT is practiced in five psychiatric facilities in Estonia. In 2010, it was used in the treatment of 362 patients (17% women) nationwide, i.e., 2.78 patients/10,000 population. Only a senior psychiatrist may indicate ECT in Estonia and pregnancy is no contraindication. In 2010, the main indication for ECT was schizophrenia (47.8%). This 2010 survey revealed significant differences in the use and availability of ECT between the Baltic countries.

The Early Ordovician trilobite distribution and zonation of the East Baltic

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pärnaste, Helje

2006-06-01

Full Text Available Biozones of the East Baltic Early Ordovician trilobites were studied based on the trilobite distribution in northwestern Russia, Estonia, and Sweden. New data on trilobite distribution reveal the diachroneity of the lowest calcareous sediments of the Mäeküla Member, which forms the upper part of the Leetse Formation in the East Baltic. Trilobites of the Tremadoc Apatokephalus serratus and Megistaspis (Ekeraspis armata biozones are missing in the East Baltic, in contradiction to the suggestion of Balashova (Vopr. Paleontol., 1966, 5, 3–22. Some poorly preserved specimens probably belonging to Megistaspis (Paramegistaspis planilimbata (Angelin and also records of Pliomerops? linnarssoni (Wiman indicate that the Arenig Megistaspis (P. planilimbata Biozone of the Hunneberg Stage may be represented in some localities. The final delimitation of biozones in the Mäeküla and Päite members should improve when the ontogenetic and phylogenetic variation of the M. (Paramegistaspis lineage has been fully documented. Until then the Evropeites lamanskii Biozone is used in the East Baltic following Balashova, as indicated by the appearance of that taxon in most studied localities, marking the beginning of the Billingen Age. The succeeding Megalaspides (Megalaspides dalecarlicus Biozone is represented by the occurrence of at least its upper part in the Vassilkovo Beds in the St. Petersburg region, where Megalaspides paliformis Tjernvik occurs together with the index taxon (these taxa co-occur in the upper part of this zone in Sweden. The Päite Member in the East Baltic is correlated with the Megistaspis (P. estonica Biozone of the upper part of the Billingen Stage in Sweden.

Subfamily Limoniinae Speiser, 1909 (Diptera, Limoniidae) from Baltic amber (Eocene): the genus Helius Lepeletier & Serville, 1828.

Science.gov (United States)

Kania, Iwona

2014-06-10

A revision of the genus Helius Lepeletier & Serville, 1828 (Diptera: Limoniidae) from Baltic amber (Eocene) is presented. Redescriptions of 5 species, Helius formosus Krzemiński, 1993, Helius linus Podenas, 2002, Helius minutus (Loew, 1850), Helius mutus Podenas, 2002, Helius pulcher (Loew, 1850) of this genus from Baltic amber are given and documented by photographs and drawings. Four new species of the genus Helius from Baltic amber are described: Helius gedanicus sp. nov., Helius hoffeinsorum sp. nov., Helius similis sp. nov., Helius fossilis sp. nov. A key to species of Helius from Baltic amber is provided. Patterns morphological evolution and the aspects evolutionary history of Helius are discussed.

Cost effective reductions in the agricultural load of nitrogen to the Baltic Sea

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Elofsson, K.

1997-11-01

To restore the health of the Baltic Sea, the Helsinki Commission, HELCOM, suggests that the nitrogen load should be reduced by 50%. The agricultural sector accounts for about 1/3 of the total load of nitrogen to the Baltic Sea, while point sources account for about 1/4. The remaining load reaches the Baltic as atmospheric deposition. The purpose of this study is to calculate cost effective reductions in the agricultural load of nitrogen to the Baltic Sea coastal waters. The Baltic Sea drainage basin is divided into 17 regions, which differ with respect to costs, leaching and nitrogen retention. For each region, cost functions are estimated for 11 nitrogen abatement measures in the agricultural sector. It is difficult to find reliable data on both costs and biological parameters for all regions included, and several assumptions are made to obtain the cost functions. In this paper the total cost of a 50% reduction of the nitrogen load from arable land is estimated to 11,700 million SEK per year. A decrease in the use of fertilizer nitrogen is the most important measure in a cost effective policy. Other measures included in the cost effective solution are changes in land-use and in manure management practices. If, instead, each country is required to reduce its load by 50%, the total cost will increase by nearly 60%. Three out of nine countries around the Baltic Sea would gain from separate reduction targets, while all others lose by such a policy. The results are sensitive to assumptions about the biological parameters and the shape of the cost functions for reductions in chemical fertilizer. 75 refs, 3 figs, 11 tabs

Improving the assessment and management of the plaice stock complex between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ulrich, Clara; Boje, Jesper; Cardinale, Massimiliano

2012-01-01

Plaice in Kattegat and Skagerrak have traditionally been considered as one stock unit. However the collected information on biology and fishery in areas between the North and Baltic Seas suggest changes are needed in assessment units as well as in management areas. Plaice in Skagerrak (Division 20...

Baltic Property Trust - professionaalseim kinnisvara investeerimisfirma Baltimere piirkonnas

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

2005-01-01

BPT Eesti direktor Meelis Liivak Baltic Property Trusti (BPT) eesmärkidest, tegevusvaldkondadest ja tulevikuplaanidest. Kommenteerivad Alo Kullamaa, Priit Põldoja, Andres Järving ja Aivar Tomson. Lisa: Ajalugu

Trends in confidence in public institutions: A comparative analysis of the Baltic countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gudžinskas Liutauras

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The paper focuses on the variation of institutional confidence in the Baltic countries. Within of framework of qualitative comparative framework, it employs a historical approach to detect causes of divergence of trust in rule of law institutions between Estonia vis-à-vis other two Baltic states. While it observes a range of variables that could affect the differences, it emphasises the role of political leadership during critical junctures, which might explain both why Estonia forged ahead at the outset of the post-communist transformation and most recent positive developments in the Baltic countries since the financial crisis in 2008–2010.

Culturing Heterotrophic Protists from the Baltic Sea: Mostly the "Usual Suspects" but a Few Novelties as Well.

Science.gov (United States)

Weber, Felix; Mylnikov, Alexander P; Jürgens, Klaus; Wylezich, Claudia

2017-03-01

The study of cultured strains has a long tradition in protistological research and has greatly contributed to establishing the morphology, taxonomy, and ecology of many protist species. However, cultivation-independent techniques, based on 18S rRNA gene sequences, have demonstrated that natural protistan assemblages mainly consist of hitherto uncultured protist lineages. This mismatch impedes the linkage of environmental diversity data with the biological features of cultured strains. Thus, novel taxa need to be obtained in culture to close this knowledge gap. In this study, traditional cultivation techniques were applied to samples from coastal surface waters and from deep oxygen-depleted waters of the Baltic Sea. Based on 18S rRNA gene sequencing, 126 monoclonal cultures of heterotrophic protists were identified. The majority of the isolated strains were affiliated with already cultured and described taxa, mainly chrysophytes and bodonids. This was likely due to "culturing bias" but also to the eutrophic nature of the Baltic Sea. Nonetheless, ~ 12% of the isolates in our culture collection showed highly divergent 18S rRNA gene sequences compared to those of known organisms and thus may represent novel taxa, either at the species level or at the genus level. Moreover, we also obtained evidence that some of the isolated taxa are ecologically relevant, under certain conditions, in the Baltic Sea. © 2016 The Author(s) Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology © 2016 International Society of Protistologists.

Characterizing and predicting the distribution of Baltic Sea flounder (Platichthys flesus) during the spawning season

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Orio, Alessandro; Bergström, Ulf; Casini, Michele

2017-01-01

, both displaying ecological and physiological adaptations to the low-salinity environment of this young inland sea. In this study we have addressed three main research questions: 1) What environmental conditions characterize the spatial distribution and abundance of adult flounder during the spawning...... a decrease in habitat availability for the pelagic spawning flounder over the last 20 years in the central part of the Baltic Sea, which may explain part of the observed changes in populations' biomass. We conclude that spatiotemporal modelling of habitat availability can improve our understanding of fish...

The geological history of the Baltic Sea. A review of the literature and investigation tools

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beckholmen, Monica; Tiren, Sven A.

2009-09-01

The bedrock in Sweden mainly comprises Proterozoic magmatic and metamorphic rocks older than a billion or one and a half billion years with few easily distinguished testimonies for the younger history. For the construction of a geological repository for deposition of nuclear waste this later, brittle, history is of great consequence. In the Gulf of Bothnia, the Baltic Sea and the countries on the eastern and southern sides of the Baltic Sea, the Proterozoic bedrock of the Svecofennian Province continues underneath a cover of sedimentary rocks of Mesoproterozoic, Palaeozoic and in the south up to Tertiary age. By studying these, lithologies, basin analyses, preserved structures, topography, etc., information may be gained on the later history, not only in the basins but also in the exposed shield area. The deformation is governed by the plate tectonic scenario and mantle configuration of a specific time and suitable structures are utilized and reactivated. The collision and amalgamation of the different tectonic terranes that comprise the basement left it strongly heterogeneous and the sutures between these rheologically different segments ample for future deformation and the adjustment between the segments to the changing and prevailing plate tectonic scenarios; the assembling and break-up of Rodinia, Laurasia and Pangea. Glaciations induce bending of the plate. Suitable datum surfaces for assessment of the deformation are the base of major sedimentary sequences, often linked to plate tectonic cycles, specifically the sub-Cambrian peneplain, the base of the Devonian, Mesozoic, Oligocene, Rupelian and Pleistocene, as well as major differences in metamorphic grade and style of deformation in adjacent rock blocks. The Baltic Sea with its Gulfs has almost since the beginning of history been the locus for rifting and extensional events, e.g. the rapakivi magmatism, 1.5-1.6Ga, formation of the Mesoproterozoic Jotnian sandstone basins and the opening of the Tornquist Sea

The geological history of the Baltic Sea. A review of the literature and investigation tools

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Beckholmen, Monica; Tiren, Sven A. (Geosigma AB, Uppsala (Sweden))

2009-09-15

The bedrock in Sweden mainly comprises Proterozoic magmatic and metamorphic rocks older than a billion or one and a half billion years with few easily distinguished testimonies for the younger history. For the construction of a geological repository for deposition of nuclear waste this later, brittle, history is of great consequence. In the Gulf of Bothnia, the Baltic Sea and the countries on the eastern and southern sides of the Baltic Sea, the Proterozoic bedrock of the Svecofennian Province continues underneath a cover of sedimentary rocks of Mesoproterozoic, Palaeozoic and in the south up to Tertiary age. By studying these, lithologies, basin analyses, preserved structures, topography, etc., information may be gained on the later history, not only in the basins but also in the exposed shield area. The deformation is governed by the plate tectonic scenario and mantle configuration of a specific time and suitable structures are utilized and reactivated. The collision and amalgamation of the different tectonic terranes that comprise the basement left it strongly heterogeneous and the sutures between these rheologically different segments ample for future deformation and the adjustment between the segments to the changing and prevailing plate tectonic scenarios; the assembling and break-up of Rodinia, Laurasia and Pangea. Glaciations induce bending of the plate. Suitable datum surfaces for assessment of the deformation are the base of major sedimentary sequences, often linked to plate tectonic cycles, specifically the sub-Cambrian peneplain, the base of the Devonian, Mesozoic, Oligocene, Rupelian and Pleistocene, as well as major differences in metamorphic grade and style of deformation in adjacent rock blocks. The Baltic Sea with its Gulfs has almost since the beginning of history been the locus for rifting and extensional events, e.g. the rapakivi magmatism, 1.5-1.6Ga, formation of the Mesoproterozoic Jotnian sandstone basins and the opening of the Tornquist Sea

Rebuilding the eastern Baltic cod stock under environmental change (part II): taking into account the costs of a marine protected area

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Roeckmann, C.; Tol, R.S.J.; Schneider, U.A.; St.John, M.A.

2009-01-01

This study adds a cost analysis of the Eastern Baltic cod fishery to the existing model presented in Röckmann et al. [2007a]. As cost data on this international fishery do not exist, data from Denmark are extrapolated to the whole international fishery. Additionally, unit and total variable costs

Environmental changes induced by human activities in the Northern Curonian Lagoon (Eastern Baltic: diatoms and stable isotope data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giedrė Vaikutienė

2017-05-01

Full Text Available A sediment core collected from the northwestern part of the Curonian Lagoon, which was deposited approximately during 1800-2002, was analysed for several proxy records. Changes in diatom assemblages and carbon, nitrogen and oxygen stable isotopes (δ13C, δ15N and δ18O revealed two periods, which are characterized by differences in the sedimentation rate, sediment type and trophic state of the northern part of the Curonian Lagoon. Low δ15N values in organics and prevailing fresh-brackish benthic diatoms indicate low enrichment in the shallow, freshwater lagoon during the period 1800-1955. The eutrophic conditions in this shallow lagoon are reflected by a high abundance of planktonic diatoms common in nutrient-rich basins and increased d15N values in organics of the sediments since 1955. Starting approximately in the 1960s, decreased freshwater run-off and increased brackish-water inflow into the lagoon were observed. These changes were likely caused by the construction of the hydropower station (and a reservoir near the Nemunas River and the artificial deepening of the Klaipėda Strait during 1960-1962 and later, also by the rising sea level in the SE Baltic. The changed river run-off and the artificially deepened strait significantly influenced the fresh-brackish water circulation and environmental conditions in the northern part of the Curonian Lagoon in the last decades.

Baltic Heritage Network : die Pflege des exilbaltischen Kulturerbes - Zwischenbilanz und Zukunftsperspektiven / Piret Noorhani

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Noorhani, Piret, 1960-

2008-01-01

Välisbalti kultuuripärandi portaal Baltic Heritage Network, mis on mitmekeelne portaal koondamaks informatsiooni Balti diasporaa kultuuripärandi leidumuse ja sellealase tegevuse kohta. Rahvusvahelise ja siseriikliku koostöö laiendamiseks ja tegevuste koordineerimiseks loodi jaanuaris 2008 mittetulundusühing Baltic Heritage Network, kuhu kuulub praegu liikmeid kõigist kolmest Balti riigist.

Baltic nuclear projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adlys, Gediminas; Adliene, Diana

2009-01-01

The Authors discuss the Baltic energy policy with respect to new nuclear power plants for Lithuania, Belarus and the Kaliningrad region. The construction of a new nuclear power plant in Lithuania would threaten Russian interests in the region. Therefore Lithuania is looking to Russian plans to build a new nuclear power plant in the Kaliningrad region as an attempt to subvert Lithuania's foreign partners and potential investors from participating in the Visaginas NPP project. However, the authors conclude, that the Visaginas NPP project is and must be the preferential project for the EU and NATO member states.

Approaches and methods for eutrophication target setting in the Baltic Sea region

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carstensen, J.; Andersen, J.; Dromph, K. [and others

2013-06-01

This report describes the outcome of the project 'Review of the ecological targets for eutrophication of the HELCOM BSAP', also known as HELCOM TARGREV. The objectives of HELCOM TARGREV have been to revise the scientific basis underlying the ecological targets for eutrophication, placing much emphasis on providing a strengthened data and information basis for the setting of quantitative targets. The results are first of all likely to form the information basis on which decisions in regard to reviewing and if necessary revising the maximum allowable inputs (MAI) of nutrient of the Baltic Sea Action Plan, including the provisional country-wise allocation reduction targets (CART), will be made.

Seeds of Failure in Colbert's Baltic Policy.

Science.gov (United States)

Mackey, Richard William

1984-01-01

This investigation of French mercantilist initiatives and policies in the seventeenth century focuses on the attempts of Colbert, the controller general of finance to Louis XIV, to stimulate French trade with the Baltic by establishing a Company of the North. (RM)

airBaltic claims monopoly abuse by RIX

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

2010-01-01

AirBalticu andmetel on nende tasud peale 2009. aasta novembris Riia lennujaamas uute tasude süsteemi kehtestamist tõusnud, kuid Ryanairi tasud on langenud. AirBaltic plaanib nõuda Riia lennujaamalt kohtus 5,9 miljonit latti hüvitist

Conception of the Maritime Transport Safety in the Baltic Sea in 2009 to 2015

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Caban Jacek

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The maritime transport is particularly exposed to danger due to the environment of its operations. These are the threat dependent and independent of human e.g. environmental, safety health and life of humans or belongings. In spite of attempts to limit the risk of danger, it is impossible to completely eliminate it. The article presents some aspects of the state of transportation safety in the Baltic Sea from Statistical Yearbook of Maritime Economy and Helcom as well as attempt the undertaken to analyses the security state of this sea area in 2009 to 2015.

Reactor operation environmental information document

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bauer, L.R.; Hayes, D.W.; Hunter, C.H.; Marter, W.L.; Moyer, R.A.

1989-12-01

This volume is a reactor operation environmental information document for the Savannah River Plant. Topics include meteorology, surface hydrology, transport, environmental impacts, and radiation effects. 48 figs., 56 tabs. (KD)

Power sector development in a common Baltic electricity market. Executive summary

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-05-01

In the years to come the Baltic electricity sector is expected to go through major changes. up till recently the sector has been characterised by vertically integrated monopolies, but at present the electricity sectors in the Baltic States are undergoing reform processes to meet the requirements of the EU directives regarding liberalisation of electricity sectors. This implies a different organisation of the sector, with new roles and responsibilities, and focus on new issues such as a well-functioning electricity market, security of supply and market power. In this project long-term scenario analyses are used to clarify the challenges facing the future Baltic electricity market and to analyse the robustness of the power sector. The project examines how existing power plants will manage in a competitive market, how power prices will develop and which investments are likely to be preferred by investors, among other issues. (BA)

Caesium-137 distribution, inventories and accumulation history in the Baltic Sea sediments.

Science.gov (United States)

Zaborska, Agata; Winogradow, Aleksandra; Pempkowiak, Janusz

2014-01-01

The Baltic Sea is susceptible to pollution by hazardous substances due to limited water exchange, shallowness, and the large catchment area. Radionuclides, particularly (137)Cs, are one of the most hazardous anthropogenic substances present in the Baltic environment. This study was conducted to present (137)Cs present contamination that should further be a subject of reliable monitoring when the new Nuclear Power Plant is put into operation in the northern Poland. The sea-wide, up to date distribution of (137)Cs activities and inventories in the Baltic Sea bottom sediments are presented. The (137)Cs activity concentrations were measured in 30 cm long sediment cores collected at 22 sampling stations. Sediment accumulation rates were quantified by (210)Pb geochronology to follow the history of (137)Cs accumulation. The (137)Cs inventories and fluxes were calculated. Most of the Baltic Sea sediments accumulated (137)Cs in the range from 750 to 2675 Bq m(-2). The Bothnian Bay is severely contaminated by (137)Cs with inventories up to 95,191 Bq m(-2). This region is moreover characterized by extremely large patchiness of (137)Cs inventories. The (137)Cs annual fluxes are highest at the two stations located at the Bothnian Bay (342 Bq m(-2) and 527 Bq m(-2)) due to large Chernobyl (137)Cs contamination of that region and high sediment accumulation rates. When these stations are excluded, the recent, annual mean value of (137)Cs load to the Baltic Sea deposits is 38 ± 22 Bq m(-2). The distribution of radio-caesium inventories over the Baltic Sea nowadays reflects the pattern of Chernobyl contamination. The radio-caesium deposited in surface sediments is not permanently buried, but may be resuspended and redeposited by currents, bioturbation or anthropogenic activities. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sedimentary alkenone distributions reflect salinity changes in the Baltic Sea over the Holocene

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Warden, L.A.; van der Meer, M.T.J.; Moros, Matthias; Sinninghe Damsté, J.S.

2016-01-01

The Baltic Sea has had a complex salinity history since the last deglaciation. Here we show how distributions of alkenones and their δD values varied with past fluctuations in salinity in the Baltic Sea over the Holocene by examining a Holocene record (11.2–0.1 cal kyr BP) from the Arkona Basin.

Historical ecology provides new insights for ecosystem management: Eastern Baltic cod case study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

MacKenzie, Brian; Ojaveer, Henn; Eero, Margit

2011-01-01

A recent historical marine ecological case study (cod in the eastern Baltic Sea) is used to show how long-term data and knowledge of fluctuations can contribute to revisions of fishery management policy. The case study first developed new longer analytical time series of spawner biomass and recru......A recent historical marine ecological case study (cod in the eastern Baltic Sea) is used to show how long-term data and knowledge of fluctuations can contribute to revisions of fishery management policy. The case study first developed new longer analytical time series of spawner biomass...... catch data from the late 1500s to early 1600s also contributed new perspectives to cod population dynamics under alternative ecosystem forcings. These new perspectives have contributed, and will likely continue to contribute to new management policies (e.g., revision of fishery management reference...... points), which should lead to higher sustainability of the population and fishery yields, and improved overall ecosystem health. These perspectives will likely continue to provide baseline information as ICES and the EU develop new policies based on maximum sustainable yield concepts....

Atmospheric deposition of nitrogen to the Baltic Sea in the period 1995–2006

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Bartnicki

2011-10-01

Full Text Available The EMEP/MSC-W model has been used to compute atmospheric nitrogen deposition into the Baltic Sea basin for the period of 12 yr: 1995–2006. The level of annual total nitrogen deposition into the Baltic Sea basin has changed from 230 Gg N in 1995 to 199 Gg N in 2006, decreasing 13 %. This value corresponds well with the total nitrogen emission reduction (11 % in the HELCOM Contracting Parties. However, inter-annual variability of nitrogen deposition to the Baltic Sea basin is relatively large, ranging from −13 % to +17 % of the averaged value. It is mainly caused by the changing meteorological conditions and especially precipitation in the considered period. The calculated monthly deposition pattern is similar for most of the years showing maxima in the autumn months October and November. The source allocation budget for atmospheric nitrogen deposition to the Baltic Sea basin was calculated for each year of the period 1997–2006. The main emission sources contributing to total nitrogen deposition are: Germany 18–22 %, Poland 11–13 % and Denmark 8–11 %. There is also a significant contribution from distant sources like the United Kingdom 6–9 %, as well as from the international ship traffic on the Baltic Sea 4–5 %.

Comparison of several climate indices as inputs in modelling of the Baltic Sea runoff

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hanninen, J.; Vuorinen, I. [Turku Univ. (Finland). Archipelaco Research Inst.], e-mail: jari.hanninen@utu.fi

2012-11-01

Using Transfer function (TF) models, we have earlier presented a chain of events between changes in the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and their oceanographical and ecological consequences in the Baltic Sea. Here we tested whether other climate indices as inputs would improve TF models, and our understanding of the Baltic Sea ecosystem. Besides NAO, the predictors were the Arctic Oscillation (AO), sea-level air pressures at Iceland (SLP), and wind speeds at Hoburg (Gotland). All indices produced good TF models when the total riverine runoff to the Baltic Sea was used as a modelling basis. AO was not applicable in all study areas, showing a delay of about half a year between climate and runoff events, connected with freezing and melting time of ice and snow in the northern catchment area of the Baltic Sea. NAO appeared to be most useful modelling tool as its area of applicability was the widest of the tested indices, and the time lag between climate and runoff events was the shortest. SLP and Hoburg wind speeds showed largely same results as NAO, but with smaller areal applicability. Thus AO and NAO were both mostly contributing to the general understanding of climate control of runoff events in the Baltic Sea ecosystem. (orig.)

Environmental remediation and waste management information systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Harrington, M.W.; Harlan, C.P.

1993-12-31

The purpose of this paper is to document a few of the many environmental information systems that currently exist worldwide. The paper is not meant to be a comprehensive list; merely a discussion of a few of the more technical environmental database systems that are available. Regulatory databases such as US Environmental Protection Agency`s (EPA`s) RODS (Records of Decision System) database [EPA, 1993] and cost databases such as EPA`s CORA (Cost of Remedial Action) database [EPA, 1993] are not included in this paper. Section 2 describes several US Department of Energy (DOE) Environmental Restoration and Waste Management (EM) information systems and databases. Section 3 discusses several US EPA information systems on waste sites and technologies. Section 4 summarizes a few of the European Community environmental information systems, networks, and clearinghouses. And finally, Section 5 provides a brief overview of Geographical Information Systems. Section 6 contains the references, and the Appendices contain supporting information.

Environmental remediation and waste management information systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harrington, M.W.; Harlan, C.P.

1993-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to document a few of the many environmental information systems that currently exist worldwide. The paper is not meant to be a comprehensive list; merely a discussion of a few of the more technical environmental database systems that are available. Regulatory databases such as US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) RODS (Records of Decision System) database [EPA, 1993] and cost databases such as EPA's CORA (Cost of Remedial Action) database [EPA, 1993] are not included in this paper. Section 2 describes several US Department of Energy (DOE) Environmental Restoration and Waste Management (EM) information systems and databases. Section 3 discusses several US EPA information systems on waste sites and technologies. Section 4 summarizes a few of the European Community environmental information systems, networks, and clearinghouses. And finally, Section 5 provides a brief overview of Geographical Information Systems. Section 6 contains the references, and the Appendices contain supporting information

Hierarchy of factors exerting an impact on nutrient load of the Baltic Sea and sustainable management of its drainage basin.

Science.gov (United States)

Kiedrzyńska, Edyta; Jóźwik, Adam; Kiedrzyński, Marcin; Zalewski, Maciej

2014-11-15

The aim of the paper was to evaluate 23 catchment factors that determine total phosphorus and total nitrogen load to the Baltic Sea. Standard correlation analysis and clustering were used. Both phosphorus and nitrogen loads were found to be positively related to the number of pigs and the human population associated with wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) per km(2), while the number of cattle and agricultural area were found to influence nitrogen rather than phosphorus load, and the area of forests is negatively related to loads of both nutrients. Clustering indicates an overall north-south pattern in the spatial co-occurrence of socio-ecological factors, with some exceptions discussed in the paper. Positive steps in the Baltic Sea region have already been taken, but much remains to be done. The development of coherent response policies to reduce eutrophication in the Baltic Sea should be based on a comprehensive knowledge base, an appropriate information strategy and learning alliance platform in each drainage river catchments. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pan-Baltic airline talks again on the table

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

2009-01-01

Baltimaad võivad luua ühise lennukompanii. Läti kommunikatsiooniministri Kaspars Gerhardsi, Leedu transpordiministri Eligijus Masiulise ja Eesti majandus- ja kommunikatsiooniministri Juhan Partsi arvamused. AirBaltic plaanib luua interneti-reisibürood

Stickleback increase in the Baltic Sea - A thorny issue for coastal predatory fish

Science.gov (United States)

Bergström, Ulf; Olsson, Jens; Casini, Michele; Eriksson, Britas Klemens; Fredriksson, Ronny; Wennhage, Håkan; Appelberg, Magnus

2015-09-01

In the Baltic Sea, the mesopredator three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) spends a large part of its life cycle in the open sea, but reproduces in shallow coastal habitats. In coastal waters, it may occur in high abundances, is a potent predator on eggs and larvae of fish, and has been shown to induce trophic cascades with resulting eutrophication symptoms through regulation of invertebrate grazers. Despite its potential significance for the coastal food web, little is known about its life history and population ecology. This paper provides a description of life history traits, migration patterns and spatiotemporal development of the species in the Baltic Sea during the past decades, and tests the hypothesis that stickleback may have a negative impact on populations of coastal predatory fish. Offshore and coastal data during the last 30 years show that stickleback has increased fourfold in the Bothnian Sea, 45-fold in the Central Baltic Sea and sevenfold in the Southern Baltic Sea. The abundances are similar in the two northern basins, and two orders of magnitude lower in the Southern Baltic Sea. The coastward spawning migration of sticklebacks from offshore areas peaks in early May, with most spawners being two years of age at a mean length of 65 mm. The early juvenile stage is spent at the coast, whereafter sticklebacks perform a seaward feeding migration in early autumn at a size of around 35 mm. A negative spatial relation between the abundance of stickleback and early life stages of perch and pike at coastal spawning areas was observed in spatial survey data, indicating strong interactions between the species. A negative temporal relationship was observed also between adult perch and stickleback in coastal fish monitoring programmes supporting the hypothesis that stickleback may have negative population level effects on coastal fish predators. The recent increase in stickleback populations in different basins of the Baltic Sea in combination with

An overview of the digital publishing market in Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arūnas Gudinavičius

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to analyze several aspects of digital publishing markets in Baltic countries. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have their own languages, so there are three different publishing markets. Results show that there are significant differences in the number of available titles, despite the fact that the Baltic e-book market is relatively new. The research on e-book sales identified the main e-book retailers and publishers in Baltic countries. E-books in Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian available on sale were counted and the differences between e-book formats and the pricing in each country were established. The results showed that the smallest Baltic country, Estonia, has more e-books on sale than both Latvia and Lithuania. It is difficult to say if Latvia even has an e-book market at all. Lithuania is somewhere in the middle. Finally, an overview of the largest retailers and publishers is provided and overall publishing dynamics within the past 20 years is described.

Baltic companies prepare for stiff competition / Jorgen Johansson

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Johansson, Jorgen

2001-01-01

"Baltic Sea Partenariat 2001" on Rootsi valitsuse toetatav projekt ärisidemete arendamiseks Rootsi ja Baltimaade ettevõtete vahel ning aitamaks läänemeremaade väikeettevõtetel valmistuda konkurentsiks EL-i turul

The Economics of the Security Dilemma in the Eastern Baltic Economic Dilemmas of the Security Policy of the Eastern Baltic Countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mezhevich N. M.

2018-05-01

Full Text Available This article considers military security in the Eastern Baltic. The research focuses on the economic sustainability of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania in the context of military spending. The authors maintain that an increase in military spending can either strengthen or weaken national economic and technological potential. In Germany or Sweden, military spending accounts for a smaller proportion of the GDP or budget revenues, but it is integrated into the general model of innovative and technological development. In the case of the Baltics, it is advisable to estimate military spending as a proportion of budget revenues rather than that of GDP — this recommendation applies to all smaller states. The authors stress that the central component of any national military and economic development is a focus on general national objectives rather than solely military ones. Economically advanced countries integrate defence spending into their investment and innovation strategies and industrial policies. Smaller countries — and the Baltics are no exception — do not apply this principle. Their military spending does not contribute to the technological and economic agenda. The article shows that the military spending of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia undermines their investment potential and serves as a critical factor in their national and governmental development. The authors suggest estimating military spending as a proportion of budget revenues rather than that of GDP.

Baltic Herring Fisheries Management: Stakeholder Views to Frame the Problem

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Päivi Haapasaari

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Comprehensive problem framing that includes different perspectives is essential for holistic understanding of complex problems and as the first step in building models. We involved five stakeholders to frame the management problem of the Central Baltic herring fishery. By using the Bayesian belief networks (BBNs approach, the views of the stakeholders were built into graphical influence diagrams representing variables and their dependencies. The views of the scientists involved concentrated on biological concerns, whereas the fisher, the manager, and the representative of an environmental nongovernmental organization included markets and fishing industry influences. Management measures were considered to have a relatively small impact on the development of the herring stock; their impact on socioeconomic objectives was greater. Overall, the framings by these stakeholders propose a focus on socioeconomic issues in research and management and explicitly define management objectives, not only in biological but also in social and economic terms. We find the approach an illustrative tool to structure complex issues systematically. Such a tool can be used as a forum for discussion and for decision support that explicitly includes the views of different stakeholder groups. It enables the examination of social and biological factors in one framework and facilitates bridging the gap between social and natural sciences. A benefit of the BBN approach is that the graphical model structures can be transformed into a quantitative form by inserting probabilistic information.

Variability in temperature, precipitation and river discharge in the Baltic States

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kriauciuniene, J.; Meilutyte-Barauskiene, D.; Sarauskiene, D. (Lithuanian Energy Inst., Kaunas (Lithuania), Lab. of Hydrology); Reihan, A. (Tallinn Univ. of Technology (Estonia), Inst. of Environmental Engineering); Koltsova, T.; Lizuma, L. (Latvian Hydrometeorological Agency, Riga (LV))

2012-07-01

The climate change impact on water resources is observed in all the Baltic States. These processes became more evident in the last decades. Although the territory of the Baltic States (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia) is not large (175000 km2), the climatic differences are quite considerable. We performed a regionalization of the territory of the Baltic States depending on the conditions of river runoff formation which can be defined according to percentages of the river feeding sources (precipitation, snowmelt, groundwater). Long-term series of temperature (40 stations), precipitation (59 stations) and river discharge (77 stations) were used to compose ten regional series. This paper addresses: (1) variability in long-term regional series of temperature, precipitation and river discharge over a long period (1922-2007); (2) changes in regional series, comparing the periods 1991-2007 and 1931-1960 with the reference period (1961-1990), and (3) the impact of temperature and precipitation changes on regional river discharge. (orig.)

Operational SAR-based sea ice drift monitoring over the Baltic Sea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Karvonen

2012-07-01

Full Text Available An algorithm for computing ice drift from pairs of synthetic aperture radar (SAR images covering a common area has been developed at FMI. The algorithm has been developed based on the C-band SAR data over the Baltic Sea. It is based on phase correlation in two scales (coarse and fine with some additional constraints. The algorithm has been running operationally in the Baltic Sea from the beginning of 2011, using Radarsat-1 ScanSAR wide mode and Envisat ASAR wide swath mode data. The resulting ice drift fields are publicly available as part of the MyOcean EC project. The SAR-based ice drift vectors have been compared to the drift vectors from drifter buoys in the Baltic Sea during the first operational season, and also these validation results are shown in this paper. Also some navigationally useful sea ice quantities, which can be derived from ice drift vector fields, are presented.

Emission Permits trade between the Nordic and Baltic Countries

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alm, Leif Kristian

2000-05-01

A bottom-up technology oriented model of the energy systems in the Nordic and Baltic countries have been constructed and used for analysing an optimal set of energy and emission trading within the region. The model used is MARKAL, which has been developed within the IEA-ETSAP. The analyses are based on national emission levels agreed on in the Kyoto protocol (and the following burden sharing negotiations within the European Union), and with an additional strengthening after 2010. Only energy related CO{sub 2} emissions are explicitly considered. Nuclear power in Sweden is assumed to be phased out. The results show that especially Norway and Sweden have large abatement costs when acting alone, whale the Baltic countries will probably not need to take domestic actions due to the Kyoto protocol if they act alone, as the restructuring of their economies in the beginning of the 1990ties cut emissions (and their economies) dramatically. It is shown that emission trading among the Nordic and Baltic countries can reduce abatement costs among the Nordic countries significantly, possibly down to a level equivalent to a world market (Annex I) permit price. Extending the Nordic common electricity market to Balticum will have minor influence on overall energy system costs. There is no pronounced direction for net electricity flow between the Nordic and Baltic countries. High marginal costs during peak hours in Balticum indicate that imports of Nordic hydro power during peak-hours could be a cost-effective option. This possibility could be implemented with a subsea AC/DC connection between Sweden and Latvia. It is politically viable to develop more hydropower in Norway, this country will be the major electricity exporter in the region, while Sweden will be the main importer. Changing scenario assumptions, i.e. no more Norwegian hydropower, but life extension of Swedish nuclear power, could change this picture. (author)

The biological basis for environmental quality assessments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karpov, V.I.; Kudritsky, Y.K.; Georgievsky, A.B.

1991-01-01

A systematic approach is required to environmental quality assessments with regard to the Baltic regions in order to address the problem of pollution abatement. The proposed systematization of adaptive states stems from the general theory of adaptation. The various types of adaption are described. (AB)

Transitivity pairs in Baltic: between Finnic and Slavic

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nau Nicole

2016-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper we examine transitivity pairs in the two modern Baltic languages Lithuanian and Latvian and compare them to neighbouring Finnic (Finnish, Estonian and Slavic (Russian, Polish languages. In Slavic the main strategy is to derive the intransitive (noncausal verb from the transitive (causal verb, while in Finnic we find a high number of derived causatives. Baltic uses both techniques, and in addition, there is a higher number of pairs where either both verbs are marked, or two etymologically related verbs are underived from a synchronic point of view. Differences and similarities across the six languages are investigated, using a list of 20 notions divided into five groups. Special attention is paid to animacy and to the distinction between inchoative and durative noncausal verbs.

The first fossil cyphophthalmid harvestman from Baltic amber

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dunlop, Jason A.

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The first fossil cyphophthalmid harvestman (Opiliones: Cyphophthalmi from Palaeogene (Eocene Baltic amber is described. This is only the third fossil example of this basal harvestman lineage; the others being from the probably slightly younger Bitterfeld amber and the much older, early Cretaceous, Myanmar (Burmese amber. Although incomplete and lacking most of the appendages, the new Baltic amber fossil can be identified as a female. The somatic characters preserved, especially spiracle morphology and the coxo-genital region, allow it to be assigned with some confidence to the extant genus Siro Latreille, 1796 (Sironidae. This fossil is formally described here as Siro balticus sp. nov. It resembles modern North American Siro species more than modern European ones, and can be distinguished principally on its relatively large size and the outline form of the body.

Corrosion of ammunition dumped in the Baltic Sea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jurczak Wojciech

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The article presents the preliminary results of a research aimed at preparation for the extraction of chemical ammunition immersed after the Second World War(WWII in the waters of the Baltic Sea (BS. It has been 70 years since the first steps aiming at elimination of mainly German chemical weapons were taken, while the expected durability (tightness of metal barrels construction or other containers was estimated at 50-60 years. Consequently there is a serious risk of contamination of the Baltic Sea waters, not only with toxic warfare agents but also with the products of their decomposition. The evaluation of barrels’ and containers’ with TWA corrosion processes progress will determine the possibility of these munitions extraction to the surface in order to perform their classic utilization.

Climate Change Impacts on Marine Biodiversity and Habitats in the Baltic Sea - and Possible Human Adaptations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Josefson, Alf B.; Göke, Cordula; Christensen, Jesper Phillip Aagaard

Climate change is likely to induce substantial changes in the Baltic Sea, as it is a species-poor ecosystem where virtually all species live close to their environmental tolerance range. The vitality of the fish stocks and viability of fisheries should be supported by consideration of global change...... in the management of environment (protection, sustainable use and restoration) and of fisheries. A shift away from sector-by-sector management towards the integrated management of land, water and living resources may be necessary to sustain the productivity of fish stocks. The climate change and other concomitant...

The Two-sector Economic Problem Of Persistent Organic Pollution and Baltic Sea Salmon Fisheries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hutniczak, Barbara; Kronbak, Lone Grønbæk

2011-01-01

sector. The paper sets up a general social planner model and demonstrates it in simple functional form, using the problem of persistent organic pollution in the Baltic Sea and its effects on the regulation and economic value of the Baltic Salmon. The paper illustrates how a modified golden rule can...

New airBaltic owner on board

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

2011-01-01

Transatlantic Holdings Company on ostnud 9,6 miljoni euro eest 59 110 airBalticu aktsiat. Läti majandusminister Artis Kampars soovib raskustesse sattunud lennufirma juhi Bertolt Flicki väljavahetamist. airBaltic plaanib koondamist. Riigikogu liige Arto Aas rõhutas, et airBalticu kadumine turult ei ole Eesti reisijate huvides, kuna ta on suuruselt kolmas lennukompanii Tallinna Lennujaamas

Uranium 234U and 238U isotopes in the southern Baltic environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borylo, A.; Skwarzec, B.

2002-01-01

The concentration and distribution of uranium in water and sediment of selected basins of the southern Baltic Sea have been analysed. It was observed that the concentration of uranium in sediments increases with core depth. This is probably connected to diffusion processes from sediments to water through interstitial water where uranium concentration is much higher than in bottom water. The measurements of 234 U/ 238 U activity ratios indicate that sedimentation of terrigenic material and transport through Vistula river are the major sources of uranium in sediments of the southern Baltic Sea. Estimation of the 234 U/ 238 U ratios in reduction areas of the Baltic Deep and the Bornholm Deep suggest that the processes of reduction of U(VI) to U(IV) and of removal of authogenic uranium from seawater to sediments do not play major roles in the Gdansk Deep. (author)

Oceanographic influences on the distribution of Baltic cod, Gadus morhua , during spawning in the Bornholm Basin of the Baltic Sea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tomkiewicz, Jonna; Lehmann, K.M.; St. John, Michael

1998-01-01

proportion of males to females. On the basin slopes, aggregations of cod were found near the bottom. These individuals were mainly immature and maturing stages with an increasing proportion of females to males with size. Salinity and oxygen conditions were found to be the major factors influencing...... the vertical and horizontal distribution of adult cod. Abundance of immature cod was also positively related to decreasing bottom depths. The effect of temperature was minor. The observed size- and sex-dependent spawning aggregation patterns, in association with habitat volume and stock size, may influence cod......The Baltic Sea is a stratified, semi-enclosed sea typified by a low-salinity surface layer and a deep saline layer of varying volume, salinity, temperature and oxygen concentration. The relationships between these oceanographic factors and the distribution of Baltic cod are presented, utilizing...

USBF recognized President Ilves for promoting relations between the Baltic countries and the United States

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

2008-01-01

President Toomas Hendrik Ilves pälvis Balti riikide ja Ameerika Ühendriikide suhete edendamise eest Ameerika-Balti Fondi (USBF - The United States-Baltic Foundation) autasu - Baltic Statesmanship Award'i. Vabariigi President töövisiidil Ameerika Ühendriikides 17.-23.04.2008

Well Salinization Risk and Effects of Baltic Sea Level Rise on the Groundwater-Dependent Island of Öland, Sweden

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcus Eriksson

2018-02-01

Full Text Available In this study, we estimate baseline conditions in terms of the current risk of well salinization on the Baltic Sea island of Öland, Sweden, and assess the effects of future sea level rise on the land area, infrastructure and cultural values. We use a multicriterion geographical information systems (GIS approach. Geomorphological and physical parameters affect the risk of saltwater intrusion into freshwater aquifers, including their hydrology, geomorphology, and climatology; the spatial distribution of the current risk of salinization is mapped in this study. In the event of a future 2 m sea level rise, a total land area of 67 km2 will be inundated on Öland, corresponding to approximately 5% of the island’s land surface. Inundation includes urban areas, nature reserves, and animal protection areas, implying the loss of environmental and socioeconomic values. A future 2 m sea level rise will also cause direct inundation of 3% of all wells on the island. Currently, 17.5% of all wells are at a high risk of becoming saltwater contaminated. More generally, the present results add evidence showing a relatively high vulnerability of major Baltic Sea islands and their infrastructure to future sea level rise. The approach used here and related results, including salinization risk maps, may prove useful for decision-makers in the planning of infrastructure. Drilling of new wells could for instance preferably be done in areas with identified lower risk-index values, which would facilitate an overall higher freshwater withdrawal in the interest of the entire island.

The Energy Independence of the Baltic States: Influence of Geopolitics on Economy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. F. Kasems

2016-01-01

Full Text Available One of the present-day aims of Baltic countries is to get rid of energy independence from Russia. The situation in Baltic region after the Soviet Union collapse has its negative impact on Baltic’s economy. In the article it could be found the roots of an attempt to create an energy independence from Russia and the research reflects the irrationality of such approach. The geopolitical causes shall be analyzed as well.

Ecological niche partitioning of the invasive dinoflagellate Prorocentrum minimum and its native congeners in the Baltic Sea.

Science.gov (United States)

Telesh, Irena V; Schubert, Hendrik; Skarlato, Sergei O

2016-11-01

This study analyses three decades of the peculiar bloom-formation history of the potentially toxic invasive planktonic dinoflagellates Prorocentrum minimum (Pavillard) Schiller in the SW Baltic Sea. We tested a research hypothesis that the unexpectedly long delay (nearly two decades) in population development of P. minimum prior to its first bloom was caused by competition with one or several closely related native dinoflagellate species due to ecological niche partitioning which hampered the spread and bloom-forming potential of the invader. We applied the ecological niche concept to a large, long-term phytoplankton database and analysed the invasion history and population dynamics of P. minimum in the SW Baltic Sea coastal waters using the data on phytoplankton composition, abundance and biomass. The ecological niche dimensions of P. minimum and its congener P. balticum were identified as the optimum environmental conditions for the species during the bloom events based on water temperature, salinity, pH, concentration of nutrients (PO 4 3- ; total phosphorus, TP; total nitrogen, TN; SiO 4 4- ), TN/TP-ratio and habitat type. The data on spatial distribution and ecological niche dimensions of P. minimum have contributed to the development of the "protistan species maximum concept". High microplankton diversity at critical salinities in the Baltic Sea may be considered as a possible reason for the significant niche overlap and strong competitive interactions among congeners leading to prolonged delay in population growth of P. minimum preceding its first bloom in the highly variable brackishwater environment. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Contracaecum osculatum and other anisakid nematodes in grey seals and cod in the Baltic Sea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zuo, S; Kania, P W; Mehrdana, F

2018-01-01

Populations of grey seals (Halichoerus grypus), sprats (Sprattus sprattus) and cod (Gadus morhua) in the Baltic Sea are relatively stationary. The present work, applying classical and molecular helminthological techniques, documents that seals and cod also share a common parasite, the anisakid...... nematode Contracaecum osculatum, which uses seals as the final host and fish as transport hosts. Sequencing mitochondrial genes (COX1 and COX2) in adult worms from seals and third-stage larvae from livers of Baltic fish (sprats and cod), showed that all gene variants occur in both seals and fish. Other...... anisakid nematodes Pseudoterranova decipiens and Anisakis simplex are also found in both seals and cod in the Baltic Sea, but at much lower rates. The Baltic grey seal population was left at a critically low level (comprising a few hundred individuals) during the latter part of the 20th century, but since...

Transplant experiments uncover Baltic Sea basin-specific responses in bacterioplankton community composition and metabolic activities.

Science.gov (United States)

Lindh, Markus V; Figueroa, Daniela; Sjöstedt, Johanna; Baltar, Federico; Lundin, Daniel; Andersson, Agneta; Legrand, Catherine; Pinhassi, Jarone

2015-01-01

Anthropogenically induced changes in precipitation are projected to generate increased river runoff to semi-enclosed seas, increasing loads of terrestrial dissolved organic matter and decreasing salinity. To determine how bacterial community structure and functioning adjust to such changes, we designed microcosm transplant experiments with Baltic Proper (salinity 7.2) and Bothnian Sea (salinity 3.6) water. Baltic Proper bacteria generally reached higher abundances than Bothnian Sea bacteria in both Baltic Proper and Bothnian Sea water, indicating higher adaptability. Moreover, Baltic Proper bacteria growing in Bothnian Sea water consistently showed highest bacterial production and beta-glucosidase activity. These metabolic responses were accompanied by basin-specific changes in bacterial community structure. For example, Baltic Proper Pseudomonas and Limnobacter populations increased markedly in relative abundance in Bothnian Sea water, indicating a replacement effect. In contrast, Roseobacter and Rheinheimera populations were stable or increased in abundance when challenged by either of the waters, indicating an adjustment effect. Transplants to Bothnian Sea water triggered the initial emergence of particular Burkholderiaceae populations, and transplants to Baltic Proper water triggered Alteromonadaceae populations. Notably, in the subsequent re-transplant experiment, a priming effect resulted in further increases to dominance of these populations. Correlated changes in community composition and metabolic activity were observed only in the transplant experiment and only at relatively high phylogenetic resolution. This suggested an importance of successional progression for interpreting relationships between bacterial community composition and functioning. We infer that priming effects on bacterial community structure by natural episodic events or climate change induced forcing could translate into long-term changes in bacterial ecosystem process rates.

Nord Stream, Sweden and Baltic Sea Security

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Larsson, Robert L

2007-03-15

In June 2006, FOI published the report: Sweden and the NEGP: a Pilot Study of the North European Gas Pipeline and Sweden's Dependence on Russian Energy, a base data report on a topic that FOI considered to be of rising importance. Much has happened since then and the NEGP has changed its name to Nord Stream and submitted an official notification on the intention of realising the project of constructing a gas pipeline from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea. The primary aim of this report is to discuss and analyse some of the core aspects of Nord Stream and the pipeline project with regard to the security situation for the Baltic Sea region. The report constitutes an updated version of the previous report. Most of the old report still stands valid, especially concerning the historical survey of Russia's energy policy, but the new report has additional chapters and is broader in scope concerning the consequences of the project

Nord Stream, Sweden and Baltic Sea Security

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Larsson, Robert L.

2007-03-15

In June 2006, FOI published the report: Sweden and the NEGP: a Pilot Study of the North European Gas Pipeline and Sweden's Dependence on Russian Energy, a base data report on a topic that FOI considered to be of rising importance. Much has happened since then and the NEGP has changed its name to Nord Stream and submitted an official notification on the intention of realising the project of constructing a gas pipeline from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea. The primary aim of this report is to discuss and analyse some of the core aspects of Nord Stream and the pipeline project with regard to the security situation for the Baltic Sea region. The report constitutes an updated version of the previous report. Most of the old report still stands valid, especially concerning the historical survey of Russia's energy policy, but the new report has additional chapters and is broader in scope concerning the consequences of the project

Nord Stream, Sweden and Baltic Sea Security

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Larsson, Robert L.

2007-03-01

In June 2006, FOI published the report: Sweden and the NEGP: a Pilot Study of the North European Gas Pipeline and Sweden's Dependence on Russian Energy, a base data report on a topic that FOI considered to be of rising importance. Much has happened since then and the NEGP has changed its name to Nord Stream and submitted an official notification on the intention of realising the project of constructing a gas pipeline from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea. The primary aim of this report is to discuss and analyse some of the core aspects of Nord Stream and the pipeline project with regard to the security situation for the Baltic Sea region. The report constitutes an updated version of the previous report. Most of the old report still stands valid, especially concerning the historical survey of Russia's energy policy, but the new report has additional chapters and is broader in scope concerning the consequences of the project

New insight into defining the lakes of the southern Baltic coastal zone.

Science.gov (United States)

Cieśliński, Roman; Olszewska, Alicja

2018-01-29

There exist many classification systems of hydrographic entities such as lakes found along the coastlines of seas and oceans. Each system has its advantages and can be used with some success in the area of protection and management. This paper aims to evaluate whether the studied lakes are only coastal lakes or rather bodies of water of a completely different hydrological and hydrochemical nature. The attempt to create a new classification system of Polish coastal lakes is related to the incompleteness of lake information in existing classifications. Thus far, the most frequently used are classifications based solely on lake basin morphogenesis or hydrochemical properties. The classifications in this paper are based not only on the magnitude of lake water salinity or hydrochemical analysis but also on isolation from the Baltic Sea and other sources of water. The key element of the new classification system for coastal bodies of water is a departure from the existing system used to classify lakes in Poland and the introduction of ion-"tracking" methods designed to identify anion and cation distributions in each body of water of interest. As a result of the work, a new classification of lakes of the southern Baltic Sea coastal zone was created. Featured objects such as permanently brackish lakes, brackish lakes that may turn into freshwater lakes from time to time, freshwater lakes that may turn into brackish lakes from time to time, freshwater lakes that experience low levels of salinity due to specific incidents, and permanently freshwater lakes. The authors have adopted 200 mg Cl -  dm -3 as a maximum value of lake water salinity. There are many conditions that determine the membership of a lake to a particular group, but the most important is the isolation lakes from the Baltic Sea. Changing a condition may change the classification of a lake.

Environmental Information Disclosure in China

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zhang, L.; Mol, A.P.J.; Yang, Shuai

2017-01-01

The past decade has seen remarkable progress made in the field of environmental information disclosure in China. While the overall institutional changes and the motivation/willingness of the government to open up information are important conditions, China’s encounter with revolutionary Information

Millennial changes of the Baltic Sea salinity. Studies of the sensitivity of the salinity to climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gustafsson, Bo G.

2004-05-01

An important question for safety assessments of nuclear waste repositories is the salinity of the Baltic Sea under different conditions. The salinity affects the potential recipient ecosystems, the water turnover along the coast and the hydrology as well as the groundwater chemistry. In this report a model that enables computation of the Baltic Sea salinity for different sea level positions and freshwater supplies is presented. The model is used to compute the salinities in Baltic proper, Bothnian Sea and Bothnian Bay for all combinations of global sea level changes from -10 m to 10 m and freshwater supplies from 0 to 60,000 m 3 /s. The results are presented in a series of graphs that enables the reader to make an assessment of the impact of a given climatic change. The model is also used to compute the decrease of the salinity in Bothnian Sea and Bothnian Bay during the next few millennia due to the postglacial uplift. The results show that modest changes in global sea level, say ±1 m, give a salinity change of the order of 1 psu in southern Baltic proper. Changing the freshwater supply with about 2,000 m 3 /s (approximately 10%) gives a similar salinity change. Further, a sea level drop of about 5 m or an increase of the freshwater supply by a factor of 3 is needed to reduce the salinity in southern Baltic proper below 1 psu. In this limit large parts of the Baltic would be limnic. A 50% decrease of the freshwater supply increase the salinity in the southern Baltic proper by a factor of 2 to some 15 psu, but the effect is even more drastic in Bothnian Sea and Bothnian Bay where the salinity increase to 13 and 10 psu, respectively. A less windy climate might have a significant effect in lowering the Baltic salinity due to a combined effect of lowered mixing in Kattegat and lowered exchange between Kattegat and the Baltic. A windier climate will not have such strong effect since increased mixing does not affect the Baltic as much. Most probably the shoreline

Millennial changes of the Baltic Sea salinity. Studies of the sensitivity of the salinity to climate change

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gustafsson, Bo G. [Oceanus Havsundersoekningar, Goeteborg (Sweden)

2004-05-01

An important question for safety assessments of nuclear waste repositories is the salinity of the Baltic Sea under different conditions. The salinity affects the potential recipient ecosystems, the water turnover along the coast and the hydrology as well as the groundwater chemistry. In this report a model that enables computation of the Baltic Sea salinity for different sea level positions and freshwater supplies is presented. The model is used to compute the salinities in Baltic proper, Bothnian Sea and Bothnian Bay for all combinations of global sea level changes from -10 m to 10 m and freshwater supplies from 0 to 60,000 m{sup 3}/s. The results are presented in a series of graphs that enables the reader to make an assessment of the impact of a given climatic change. The model is also used to compute the decrease of the salinity in Bothnian Sea and Bothnian Bay during the next few millennia due to the postglacial uplift. The results show that modest changes in global sea level, say {+-}1 m, give a salinity change of the order of 1 psu in southern Baltic proper. Changing the freshwater supply with about 2,000 m{sup 3}/s (approximately 10%) gives a similar salinity change. Further, a sea level drop of about 5 m or an increase of the freshwater supply by a factor of 3 is needed to reduce the salinity in southern Baltic proper below 1 psu. In this limit large parts of the Baltic would be limnic. A 50% decrease of the freshwater supply increase the salinity in the southern Baltic proper by a factor of 2 to some 15 psu, but the effect is even more drastic in Bothnian Sea and Bothnian Bay where the salinity increase to 13 and 10 psu, respectively. A less windy climate might have a significant effect in lowering the Baltic salinity due to a combined effect of lowered mixing in Kattegat and lowered exchange between Kattegat and the Baltic. A windier climate will not have such strong effect since increased mixing does not affect the Baltic as much. Most probably the

The invasive ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi in the central Baltic Sea: seasonal phenology and hydrographic influence on spatio-temporal distribution patterns

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schaber, M.; Haslob, H.; Huwer, Bastian

2011-01-01

In the Western Baltic, the invasive ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi was recorded for the first time in autumn 2006. An eastward propagation of the ctenophore into the central Baltic, and thus into important spawning grounds of major Baltic fish stocks, was observed in 2007. The focus of the present...... distribution was mostly confined to water layers below the permanent halocline and significantly influenced by ambient temperature. Our results indicate that there is no self-sustaining population of M. leidyi in the central Baltic Sea. Instead, the species is most likely re-introduced into the Bornholm Basin...... every year via lateral advection from source populations in the Western Baltic. These findings are important not only to further assess the potential impact of M. leidyi on the pelagic ecosystem of the central Baltic Sea, but also for a better understanding of the mechanisms of its invasion into other...

Environmental Decision Making and Information Technology: Issues Assessment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barg, S.; Fletcher, T.; Mechling, J.; Tonn, B.; Turner, R.

1999-05-01

This report presents a summary of the Information Technology and Environmental Decision Making Workshop that was held at Harvard University, October 1-3, 1998. Over sixty participants from across the US took part in discussions that focused on the current practice of using information technology to support environmental decision making and on future considerations of information technology development, information policies, and data quality issues in this area. Current practice is focusing on geographic information systems and visualization tools, Internet applications, and data warehousing. In addition, numerous organizations are developing environmental enterprise systems to integrate environmental information resources. Plaguing these efforts are issues of data quality (and public trust), system design, and organizational change. In the future, much effort needs to focus on building community-based environmental decision-making systems and processes, which will be a challenge given that exactly what needs to be developed is largely unknown and that environmental decision making in this arena has been characterized by a high level of conflict. Experimentation and evaluation are needed to contribute to efficient and effective learning about how best to use information technology to improve environmental decision making.

SRS Geology/Hydrogeology Environmental Information Document

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Denham, M.E.

1999-01-01

The purpose of the Savannah River Site Geology and Hydrogeology Environmental Information Document (EID) is to provide geologic and hydrogeologic information to serve as a baseline to evaluate potential environmental impacts. This EID is based on a summary of knowledge accumulated from research conducted at the Savannah River Site (SRS) and surrounding areas

SRS Geology/Hydrogeology Environmental Information Document

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Denham, M.E.

1999-08-31

The purpose of the Savannah River Site Geology and Hydrogeology Environmental Information Document (EID) is to provide geologic and hydrogeologic information to serve as a baseline to evaluate potential environmental impacts. This EID is based on a summary of knowledge accumulated from research conducted at the Savannah River Site (SRS) and surrounding areas.

Use of drugs against osteoporosis in the Baltic countries during 2010–2014

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ott Laius

2016-01-01

Conclusions: The differences in consumption of drugs against osteoporosis in the Baltic countries are not very big. The consumption of antiosteoporotic drugs is not to be regarded as sufficient though. The generally low consumption of osteoporotic medicines in the Baltic countries can be attributed to the overall less than EU average wealth of the countries and less than optimal expenditure on healthcare out of the GDP.

Radiocarbon dates for the earliest period of habitation in the Baltic States

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zagorska, I.

2003-01-01

Hitherto, the Stone age of the East Baltic was known for its series of Late Mesolithic - Early Neolithic dates, but over the past decade the number of the dates for the Middle Stone Age and the Final Palaeolithic has also increased. The article brings together the published Palaeolithic and Mesolithic dates from the East Baltic, based on radiocarbon age. This is because a proportion of the dates has never been calibrated, while a proportion of the new dates have been calibrated using various software programmes, often without stating the programme used. For the first time, radiocarbon dates have been obtained for the Late Palaeolithic in Lithuania: 10 550-9820 BP (cal. 10 600-9000 BC). This period is connected with the Swidry Culture in the central and southern part of the East Baltic. At the present best-dated stage of the Mesolithic is the Early Mesolithic, with several dates from Estonia (Pulli, Kunda-Lammasmagi) and Latvia, covering the period 9600 to around 9000 BP (cal. 8900-8300 BC). These dates are also supported by dates obtained from Mesolithic sites in neighbouring areas: northern Poland, southern Finland and north-east Russia. Much has been gained from the dating in recent years of burials in Lithuania and Latvia. Currently the oldest known burial is male buried in the cultural layer of Zvejnieki II settlement site, dated to 8240 BP. Another three burials in Lithuania,in the Spiginas and Duonkalnis cemeteries, as well as eight burials at Zvejnieki cemetery, date from the late Mesolithic, confirming the idea that it was in the Late Mesolithic that large special burial sites developed adjacent to settlements in the Baltic basin, both in the east and west. The development of cemeteries in Lithuania began in the period 7780-7470 BP, while the Late Mesolithic graves at Zvejnieki date from 6900-6400 BP. The dates show that a special feature of the cemeteries in the Baltic is their long duration of use, starting from the Middle Mesolithic up to the end of the

Preliminary results on the distribution of some pollutants in the Baltic 1980 and 1981

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bruegmann, L.; Rohde, K.H.

1981-01-01

In September/October 1980 complex field studies on the distribution of heavy metals, petroleum hydrocarbons, chlorinated hydrocarbon and radionuclides were carried out on 24 stations in the Baltic Sea. Samples of different compartments of the marine environment were taken. The analyses for some heavy metals in water were performed directly on board. First results including mean values and concentration ranges for Hg, Cd, Pb, Cu, Zn, Sr-90 and Cs-137 in Baltic waters and for petroleum hydrocarbons, PCBs, DDT metabolites, HCB, α-HCH and γ-HCH in water and surface film samples are given. In most cases the data confirm recently published results. Relatively low concentrations were found for mercury. The investigations were repeated in May/June 1981 covering the Baltic Sea and parts of the North Atlantic. The resultant data for heavy metals and petroleum hydrocarbons agree widely with the results from 1980. An estimation of the relative pollutant burden of the Baltic Sea related to the investigated parts of the North Atlantic is given. (author)

Energy dependency and sustainable regional development in the Baltic states: A review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Štreimikienė Dalia

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Energy security is one of the most important indicators of sustainable regional development and 'green' growth in implementation of EU strategy Europe 2020. It can provide the harmonized development and cohesion of 'old' and 'new' EU member states. Our paper conducts a comparative study of energy dependency and energy security indicators in the Baltic States. The Baltic countries achieved enormous progress in the use of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency since their EU accession in 2004. The increase of renewable energy capacities in Baltic States also contributed to the reduction of energy intensity and carbon intensity of economy and energy import dependency. Our results show that amongst all three states, it was Estonia that had achieved the best results in increased use of renewables and energy efficiency improvements and had distinguished itself with the best indicators and economic and regional policy outcomes.

Distribution of metals and extent of contamination in sediments from the south-eastern Baltic Sea (Lithuanian zone

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nijolė Remeikaitė-Nikienė

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Summary: The distribution of metals (Pb, Cu, Cd, Ni, Cr, Zn in surface sediments and the potential pollution sources in the south-eastern part (SE of the Baltic Sea (Lithuanian zone were investigated in relation to the environmental characteristics (amount of fine-grained particles, TOC content in sediments, origin of sedimentary organic matter, salinity, water depth in 2011–2014. The higher metal concentrations were measured in sediments of the Curonian Lagoon and in the open waters. An approach using various environmental indices (enrichment factor EF, geoaccumulation index Igeo and contamination factor CF was used to quantitatively assess a contamination degree. The principal component analysis (PCA was applied in order to further scrutinize pollution from metal sources. The values of the contamination indices showed no/very low sediment contamination with Ni and Cr, minor–moderate contamination with Cu, Zn and Pb and moderate–considerable pollution with Cd. The strong relationships among metals suggested their similar distribution pattern and a combination of natural and anthropogenic sources. The higher metal concentrations coincided with an increasing amount of fine-grained fraction and organic carbon. In the territorial waters, the distribution of elements was related to the water depth. In addition, the binding of metals with insoluble iron sulphides might explain their high concentrations at the most remote and deepest stations. Keywords: Metals, Enrichment factor, Geoaccumulation index, Contamination factor, The Baltic Sea, The Curonian Lagoon

Site-specific cancer risk in the Baltic cohort of Chernobyl cleanup workers, 1986–2007

Science.gov (United States)

Rahu, Kaja; Hakulinen, Timo; Smailyte, Giedre; Stengrevics, Aivars; Auvinen, Anssi; Inskip, Peter D.; Boice, John D.; Rahu, Mati

2013-01-01

Objective To assess site-specific cancer risk in the Baltic cohort of Chernobyl cleanup workers 1986–2007. Methods The Baltic cohort includes 17,040 men from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania who participated in the environmental cleanup after the accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station in 1986–1991, and who were followed for cancer incidence until the end of 2007. Cancer cases diagnosed in the cohort and in the male population of each country were identified from the respective national cancer registers. The proportional incidence ratio (PIR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to estimate the site-specific cancer risk in the cohort. For comparison and as it was possible, the site-specific standardized incidence ratio (SIR) was calculated for the Estonian sub-cohort, which was not feasible for the other countries. Results Overall, 756 cancer cases were reported during 1986–2007. A higher proportion of thyroid cancers in relation to the male population was found (PIR=2.76; 95%CI 1.63–4.36), especially among those who started their mission shortly after the accident, in April–May 1986 (PIR=6.38; 95% CI 2.34–13.89). Also, an excess of oesophageal cancers was noted (PIR=1.52; 95% CI 1.06–2.11). No increased PIRs for leukaemia or radiation-related cancer sites combined were observed. PIRs and SIRs for the Estonian sub-cohort demonstrated the same site-specific cancer risk pattern. Conclusion Consistent evidence of an increase in radiation-related cancers in the Baltic cohort was not observed with the possible exception of thyroid cancer, where conclusions are hampered by known medical examination including thyroid screening among cleanup workers. PMID:23683549

The Baltic-Pontic region in the Europe-Eurasia dual system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ilyin Mikhail

2012-03-01

Full Text Available This article considers the Baltic-Pontic Sea region not only as a geographical space of Intermarium (Międzymorze, Tarpjūris etc. but also as Intermundium or the interface of European and Russian (Eurasian civilization. The study sets out to clarify the logic of changing patterns shaping this geopolitical area. To this end, the concept of the Baltic-Pontic conflict system proposed by Vadim Tsymbursky is applied and further developed. In contrast to his agent-focused vehicle of analysis disclosing the power interactions in Intermarium, the authors advance an alternative structure-focused model of the Baltic-Pontic system (BPS as a multidimensional evolving space of heterogeneous interactions, which include cooperation. The authors suggest applying the BPS models in interpreting and clarifying historical developments in the area from the late 14th century until the present. The article analyses the spatial, geopolitical and geochronopolitical characteristics of the region, as well as the models of intercivilisational interaction between Europe and Eurasia. The author addresses the issue of the political identity of the region and its ability to play an independent role in the world politics.

The Baltic Sea Macro-Regional Transport Cluster as an Element of the Silk Road Economic Belt

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nežerenko Olga

2017-08-01

Full Text Available This article analyzes the opportunities of the Chinese initiative “One Belt, One Road”, for the development of the Baltic Sea macro-region (BSR, as a single transport cluster. One of the objectives of the initiative is to strengthen transport linkages from the Pacific Ocean to the Baltic Sea Region. Thus, the contemporary macro-regional approach to the development of EU macro-regions can provide an additional impulse to the creation of formal macro-regional inter-cooperation, via in this case, the project that will advance the transport infrastructure of the region. This study examines the situation of the railway sector in the BSR in the period 2004–2015, through hierarchical cluster analysis, to identify countries with similar trends in cargo flow turnover. Taking into account the favorable geographical position of Poland, its transport performance and advanced (in comparison to other Baltic Sea region countries relations with China, it is concluded that Poland’s conditions are more suitable to promote economic integration with its closest neighbors – the Baltic countries-through the creation of formal macro-regional railway transport within the Rail Baltic project.

Tobacco taxation policy in three Baltic countries after the EU accession

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Konstantin Krasovsky

2012-11-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania joined the EU in 2004 and had to increase tobacco excise rates. The aim of the paper is to explore the impact of tax policies on tobacco consumption, revenue and tobacco market in the Baltic countries.METHODS: Data on tobacco sales, tax rates, prices, revenues, and smoking prevalence were taken from databases and reports. Tobacco affordability index was calculated using data on prices and GDP. RESULTS: Tobacco taxation policy had three similar stages in Baltic countries: (1 In 2004-2007, tax rates increased slowly and cigarettes became more affordable in years of economic boom. Tobacco consumption and smuggling out of Baltic countries was on the rise, which caused increase of sales and revenues. (2 In 2008-2009, Baltic countries had to hike excise and VAT rates in years of economic recession, which caused sharp decline of cigarette affordability and resulted in large decline of consumption and sales and some excise revenue downfall in 2009-2010; however, all countries had higher revenues in 2010 than in 2007. (3 In 2011, economic situation improved and tobacco sales and revenue increased. The tobacco taxation policy in Baltic countries in 2004-2011 resulted in: (1 decline of total (licit + illicit annual cigarette consumption by 30% both in Latvia and Lithuania, and by 10% in Estonia; (2 decline of daily smoking prevalence by 10-20%; (3 decline of the out-of-country smuggling; (4 almost no changes in volumes of smuggling into Lithuania and Estonia; (5 three-fold increase of the annual tobacco revenues in three countries combined.CONCLUSIONS: Decrease of tobacco affordability caused by tax hikes and economic recession was the key factor of tobacco consumption decline. Tobacco tax hike is a win-win policy, while in years of economic boom it has more fiscal benefits and in years of economic recession it has more public health benefits.

Report on the intercomparison run IAEA-306 radionuclides in Baltic Sea sediment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ballestra, S.; Vas, D.; Lopez, J.J.; Noshkin, V.

1989-10-01

The results of an intercomparison exercise on a Baltic Sea sediment sample, coded as IAEA-306, designed for the determination of artificial and natural radionuclide levels, are reported. This sample was collected in the fall 1986. It was anticipated that the concentrations of the artificial radionuclides in this sediment would be higher than the environmental levels usually found and, therefore, would constitute an excellent intercomparison sample. The data from 84 laboratories representing 34 countries have been evaluated. The most frequently measured radionuclides are: 90 Sr, 125 Sb, 134 Cs, 137 Cs, 238 Pu, 239+240 Pu, 241 Am, 40 K, 210 Pb- 210 Po, 226 Ra, 228 Ra, 228 Th, 230 Th, 232 Th, 234 U and 238 U. 6 refs, 13 tabs

Life Cycle Assessments of Manure Management Techniques for the Baltic Sea Regions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hamelin, Lorie; Baky, A; Cano-Bernal, J

The report summarizes the key results of the consequential life cycle assessments (LCAs) carried out for a variety of manure management techniques over the Baltic Sea Regions (BSR). For all manure management technologies assessed, the environmental impacts (in terms of potential to global warming......, acidification of aquatic & terrestrial systems as well as phosphorus and nitrogen enrichment) are evaluated along the whole “manure management chain”, quantified and compared to the applying reference manure management system. The LCA results presented in this report cover 4 main manure types (dairy cow slurry....... Assessed separation technologies include concentration technologies, state-of-the-art decanter centrifuge and source-separation technologies. The energy production technologies addressed consist of thermal gasification, incineration and anaerobic digestion (for which a myriad of carbon co...

Modeling pathways of riverine nitrogen and phosphorus in the Baltic Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Radtke, H.; Neumann, T.; Voss, M.; Fennel, W.

2012-09-01

A better understanding of the fate of nutrients entering the Baltic Sea ecosystem is an important issue with implications for environmental management. There are two sources of nitrogen and phosphorus: riverine input and atmospheric deposition. In the case of nitrogen, the fixation of dinitrogen by diazotrophic bacteria represents a third source. From an analysis of stable nitrogen isotope ratios it was suggested that most of the riverine nitrogen is sequestered in the coastal rim, specifically along the southern Baltic Sea coast with its coarse sediments, whereas nitrogen from fixation dominates the central basins. However, pathways of nutrients and timescales between the input of the nutrients and their arrival in different basins are difficult to obtain from direct measurements. To elucidate this problem, we use a source attribution technique in a three-dimensional ecosystem model, ERGOM, to track nutrients originating from various rivers. An “age” variable is attributed to the marked elements to indicate their propagation speeds and residence times. In this paper, we specifically investigate the spreading of nitrogen and phosphorus from the riverine discharges of the Oder, Vistula, Neman and Daugava. We demonstrate which regions they are transported to and for how long they remain in the ecosystem. The model results show good agreement with source estimations from observed δ15N values in sediments. The model results suggest that 95% of nitrogen is lost by denitrification in sediments, after an average time of 1.4 years for riverine nitrogen. The residence time of riverine phosphorus is much longer and exceeds our simulated period of 35 years.

Mid-infrared spectroscopy for characterization of Baltic amber (succinite)

Science.gov (United States)

Wagner-Wysiecka, Ewa

2018-05-01

Natural Baltic amber (succinite) is the most appreciated fossil resin of the rich cultural traditions dating back to prehistoric times. Its unequivocal identification is extremely important in many branches of science and trades including archeology, paleontology, chemistry and finally mineralogical and gemological societies. Current methods of modification of natural succinite are more and more sophisticated making the identification of natural Baltic amber often challenging. In article the systematic analytical approach for identification of natural and modified under different conditions succinite, using mid-infrared spectroscopy (transmission, Drifts and ATR techniques) is presented. The correlation between spectral characteristics and properties of succinite is discussed pointing that the understanding of the nature of changes is the key of identification of this precious material.

Radionuclides in the ecosystem of the southern Baltic Sea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skwarzec, B.; Struminska, D.I.; Borylo, A.

2006-01-01

It has been shown that 210 Po and plutonium are significantly more concentrated in the Baltic Sea ecosystem than uranium . Bioaccumulation coefficients in flora and fauna (BCFs) of 210 Po are of the 2·10 3 - 2·10 5 range and plutonium - of the 1·10 2 - 1·10 4 . 238 Pu/ 239-240 Pu isotopic ratio shows for the increasing content in the living organisms of plutonium coming from the Chernobyl NPP accident. Content of 55 Fe and 63 Ni in the Baltic ecosystem (sea water, Fucus Vesilculous) is inverse proportional to the distance from the contamination place (e.g. from the NPP). Against to 55 Fe - 63 Ni is accumulated in the fish skin and flakes through passive diffusion

Interpreting time trends and biomagnification of PCBs in the Baltic region using the equilibrium lipid partitioning approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nfon, Erick; Cousins, Ian T.

2006-01-01

Multi-year monitoring data for PCBs in abiotic media and biota collected from the Baltic region were compiled into a database and analyzed using the equilibrium lipid partitioning (ELP) approach to study temporal trends as well as to investigate food web biomagnification. Statistically significant reductions in ELP concentrations between 1987 and 2001 were observed in guillemots, air, and some fish species and a general, but not always statistically significant decline in concentrations was observed throughout the Baltic ecosystem. Estimated clearance half-lives ranged from 2.7-10.7 years. The database contained concentrations for a range of different Baltic species, which comprise a well-known Baltic food web. It was possible to derive the trophic position of the species in this food web and relate them to ELP concentrations. A significant positive correlation between ELP concentrations and trophic position was obtained. Estimated food web magnification factors ranged between 1.9 and 5.1 for selected congeners. - The equilibrium lipid partitioning approach is applied to a large Baltic database of PCB concentrations in abiotic and biota media to investigate time trends and biomagnification

A transnational and holistic breeding approach is needed for sustainable wheat production in the Baltic Sea region.

Science.gov (United States)

Chawade, Aakash; Armoniené, Rita; Berg, Gunilla; Brazauskas, Gintaras; Frostgård, Gunilla; Geleta, Mulatu; Gorash, Andrii; Henriksson, Tina; Himanen, Kristiina; Ingver, Anne; Johansson, Eva; Jørgensen, Lise Nistrup; Koppel, Mati; Koppel, Reine; Makela, Pirjo; Ortiz, Rodomiro; Podyma, Wieslaw; Roitsch, Thomas; Ronis, Antanas; Svensson, Jan T; Vallenback, Pernilla; Weih, Martin

2018-03-14

The Baltic Sea is one of the largest brackish water bodies in the world. Eutrophication is a major concern in the Baltic Sea due to the leakage of nutrients to the sea with agriculture being the primary source. Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is the most widely grown crop in the countries surrounding the Baltic Sea and thus promoting sustainable agriculture practices for wheat cultivation will have a major impact on reducing pollution in the Baltic Sea. This approach requires identifying and addressing key challenges for sustainable wheat production in the region. Implementing new technologies for climate-friendly breeding and digital farming across all surrounding countries should promote sustainable intensification of agriculture in the region. In this review, we highlight major challenges for wheat cultivation in the Baltic Sea region and discuss various solutions integrating transnational collaboration for pre-breeding and technology sharing to accelerate development of low input wheat cultivars with improved host plant resistance to pathogen and enhanced adaptability to the changing climate. © 2018 The Authors. Physiologia Plantarum published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Scandinavian Plant Physiology Society.

Palaeohydrological implications in the Baltic area and its relation to the groundwater at Aespoe, south-eastern Sweden - A literature study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wallin, B.

1995-03-01

A literature study of different groundwaters in the circum Baltic region is presented in this work. The study is mainly focused on the isotopic signatures observed in different groundwaters in Sweden and Finland. Several saline groundwaters in the Baltic region at depth of 150 to 500m depth show stable (δD, δ 13 C, δ 18 O) and radiogenic (δ 87 Sr) isotope assembly which is suggestive of a marine origin. However, a discrepancy is sometimes observed between the stable as well as radiogenic isotopes of the intermediate groundwater, which suggest a mixture of fossil marine water and a post-glacial runoff of melt water. In order to explain this phenomenon, the initial setting in δ 18 O may have been depleted due to large input of high latitude marine water or cold melt waters. A solution to the contradiction between the strontium (δ 87 Sr) and stable isotope (δD, δ 13 C, δ 18 O) signatures of the groundwater and of the calcite fracture fillings at Aespoe and other places is attained, if it is assumed that the strontium in Baltic Sea water has undergone a significant decrease in δ 87 Sr since the last glaciation. A scenario can be constructed to suggest that the Baltic Sea during the initial stage of the Litorina sea (8000 to 5000 Y B.P.) contained strontium with much larger δ 87 Sr values. Another explanation for the positive δ 87 Sr values may be due to water/rock interaction between the groundwater and the abundant fracture clay minerals, which are observed at Aespoe. Typically most of the saline groundwaters occur both in Sweden and Finland below the highest marine shore line during the Holocene. Almost all inland groundwaters show a totally different pattern which is typically non marine, meteoric in origin. This study also summarises the stable isotope (δ 13 C,δ 18 O) geochemistry dependence of the important global and regional environmental changes which may have influenced of the palaeohydrology as well as groundwater formation and in the Baltic

Environmental information systems - practicable decision aids

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1988-01-01

Environmental information systems are classified in documentation systems and environmental planning systems. In environmental information systems emphasis is laid on scientific documentation. Environmental planning systems, on the other hand, involve facts on the state of the environment with respect to the air, noise, water, soil, waste management, the ecology and nature conservation. They can be used as instruments for documenting trends in enviromental pollution and the state of the art in environmental engineering. The relation polluter-environment-enforcement plays a central role for the protection of the environment (integration in terms of the KMSYS). The 'trade and process-specific emissions' system already represents an instrument for the transfer of knowledge in the field of air pollution abatement (see, e.g., Clean Air Technical Code, and the backfitting of existing plants). (DG) [de

Reconstructing historical stock development of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) in the eastern Baltic Sea before the beginning of intensive exploitation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eero, Margit; Köster, Fritz; MacKenzie, Brian

2008-01-01

mortality before the 1940s was below 0.2, but reached moderate levels during the Second World War. The stock size before the war may be considered as a reference level of biomass at low fishing impact, providing important information for the management of fisheries and the Baltic ecosystem....

Transplant experiments uncover Baltic Sea basin-specific responses in bacterioplankton community composition and metabolic activities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Markus V Lindh

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Anthropogenically induced changes in precipitation are projected to generate increased river runoff to semi-enclosed seas, intensifying loads of terrestrial dissolved organic matter and decreasing salinity. To determine how bacterial community structure and functioning adjust to such changes, we designed microcosm transplant experiments with Baltic Proper (salinity 7.2 and Bothnian Sea (salinity 3.6 water. Baltic Proper bacteria generally reached higher abundance than Bothnian Sea bacteria in both Baltic Proper and Bothnian Sea water, indicating a higher adaptability. Moreover, Baltic Proper bacteria growing in Bothnian Sea water consistently showed highest bacterial production and beta-glucosidase activity. These metabolic responses were accompanied by basin-specific changes in bacterial community structure. For example, Baltic Proper Pseudomonas and Limnobacter populations increased markedly in relative abundance in Bothnian Sea water, indicating replacement. In contrast, Roseobacter and Rheinheimera populations were stable or increased in abundance when challenged by either of the waters, indicating adjustment. Transplants to Bothnian Sea water triggered the initial emergence of particular Burkholderiaceae populations, and transplants to Baltic Proper water triggered Alteromonadaceae populations. Notably, in the subsequent re-transplant experiment, the original triggering, or priming effect, resulted in further increases to dominance of these populations. Correlated changes in community composition and metabolic activity were observed only in the transplant experiment, and only at relatively high phylogenetic resolution. This suggested an importance of successional progression for interpreting relationships between bacterial community composition and functioning. We infer that priming effects on bacterial community structure by natural episodic events or climate change induced forcing could translate into long-term changes in bacterial

Projekt "Baltenet - The Baltic Technology Network" / Leonid Pai

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Pai, Leonid

2005-01-01

Baltenet - The Baltic Technology Network on projekt, mille alusel teevad koostööd tehniliste erialade koolituse arendamiseks Baltimere äärsetes riikides neli kutseõppeasutust Soomest, Rootsist, Lätis ja Eestist. Projekti rahastab Euroopa Liidu Leonardo da Vinci programm

Implementing ecosystem-based fisheries management: from single-species to integrated ecosystem assessment and advice for Baltic Sea fish stocks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Möllmann, Christian; Lindegren, Martin; Blenckner, Thorsten

2014-01-01

-economic factors, in relation to specified management objectives. Here, we focus on implementing the IEA approach for Baltic Sea fish stocks. We combine both tactical and strategic management aspects into a single strategy that supports the present Baltic Sea fish stock advice, conducted by the International...... Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). We first review the state of the art in the development of IEA within the current management framework. We then outline and discuss an approach that integrates fish stock advice and IEAs for the Baltic Sea. We intentionally focus on the central Baltic Sea...... and its three major fish stocks cod (Gadus morhua), herring (Clupea harengus), and sprat (Sprattus sprattus), but emphasize that our approach may be applied to other parts and stocks of the Baltic, as well as other ocean areas...

Variability and Dynamics of Dissolved Oxygen in the Transition Zone of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jonasson, Lars

information about the seasonal to decadal oxygen variations in the bottom water of the Kattegat, the Danish Straits, the Sound and the Western Baltic Sea and investigates the relative importance of physical and biogeochemical processes, climate change and nutrient load reductions on the oxygen variability......The bottom water in the transition zone of the North Sea and Baltic Sea suffers from seasonal hypoxia, usually during late summer and autumn. Hypoxia is a natural phenomenon in this region because of the strong vertical stratification which prevents the bottom water to be ventilated by atmospheric...... concentrations by 15-30 μmol O2 l−1 yr−1 while the reduced nutrient concentration has increased the oxygen concentration with approximately the same amount. Thus, the positive effect on oxygen conditions from reduced nutrient concentrations have been counteracted by increased water temperatures. This has made...

Transparency and information disclosure in China's environmental governance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zhang, L.; Mol, A.P.J.; He, G.

2016-01-01

Given its past as a so-called information-poor and authoritarian country, China has recently made remarkable progress in information disclosure and environmental transparency. Since enacting the Open Government Information Regulations and the Environmental Information Disclosure Measures in 2008,

Kas "balti kirjanik" on olemas? / Does the "Baltic Writer" Exist?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cornelius Hasselblatt

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Teesid: Artiklis küsitakse 2009. a ilmunud leksikoni „300 Baltic Writers“ põhjal, kas „Balti kirjanik“ on põhjendatud mõiste. Varem mõisteti Baltikumi all laiemat ala, kuhu kuulusid ka Poola ja Soome. Uurides, kui palju „Balti“ kirjanikke on tõlgitud naaberkeeltesse, selgus, et läti keelde on neid tõlgitud rohkem kui leedu ja eesti keelde. Samuti on eesti autoreid rohkem tõlgitud soome keelde ja leedu autoreid poola keelde. Ilmneb, et Balti kontseptsioon on liiga kitsas, sest relevantne regioon on suurem: soome-eesti ja leedu-poola suhetega võrreldes ei paista eesti-läti-leedu suhe eriti millegagi silma.   The article takes a closer look at the reference guide 300 Baltic Writers (Kalnačs jt 2009 which was published in 2009. The initial (and may-be even provocative question is, whether the concept “Baltic writer” which is introduced here is indeed as clear and senseful as the introduction suggests. In this introduction, some basic problems occur, as can be exemplified through the following quotations: “This reference book presents a hundred of the best-known writers from each of the three Baltic States, starting with the time in the 16th century when the written word first appeared in their national languages, and going on to the twenty-first century (the bibliography goes up to the year 2008. In doing so, it shows the historical and cultural partnerships between the three Baltic countries.” (p. 5 While the first sentence is comprehensible and correct, the second sentence shows a simple logical mistake: one cannot show a unity simply by putting things together. In doing so, one may create a (wishful unity, i.e. postulate it, but one cannot show it. Also one of the following sentences is not convincing, but highly problematic: “For a long time, the writers, poets, playwrights and literary critics of each of these countries have deserved to be introduced to a wider international literary audience as a regional

The effect of environmental information on investment allocation decisions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rikhardsson, Pall M.; Holm, Claus

2008-01-01

This paper focuses on the use of environmental information in investment decision making. The research approach employed is based on an experiment where three groups of final year finance students were asked to allocate investment funds between two companies based on financial accounts...... information categories affect their decision making. Hence, this has implications for how the potential value of environmental information is to be assessed. Finally, experimental studies as a methodology seem to be better suited to indicate actual effects of different types of information on decision making...... and information material from these companies in which environmental information was included in varying degrees. The overall conclusion is that the qualitative environmental information affects short term allocation decisions, hence indicating a risk reduction potential of environmental information comparable...

Transportation Technical Environmental Information Center index

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Davidson, C. A.; Foley, J. T.

1980-10-01

In an effort to determine the environmental intensities to which energy materials in transit may be exposed, a Data Center of technical environmental information has been established by Sandia National Laboratories, Division 5523, for the DOE Office of Transportation Fuel Storage. This document is an index which can be used to request data of interest. Access to the information held is not limited to Sandia personnel. The purpose of the Transportation Technical Environmental Information Center is to collect, analyze, store, and make available descriptions of the environment of transportation expressed in engineering terms. The data stored in the Center are expected to be useful in a variety of transportation related analyses. Formulations of environmental criteria for shipment of cargo, risk assessments, and detailed structural analyses of shipping containers are examples where these data have been applied. For purposes of indexing and data retrieval, the data are catalogued under two major headings: Normal and Abnormal Environments.

Transportation Technical Environmental Information Center index

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davidson, C.A.; Foley, J.T.

1980-10-01

In an effort to determine the environmental intensities to which energy materials in transit may be exposed, a Data Center of technical environmental information has been established by Sandia National Laboratories, Division 5523, for the DOE Office of Transportation Fuel Storage. This document is an index which can be used to request data of interest. Access to the information held is not limited to Sandia personnel. The purpose of the Transportation Technical Environmental Information Center is to collect, analyze, store, and make available descriptions of the environment of transportation expressed in engineering terms. The data stored in the Center are expected to be useful in a variety of transportation related analyses. Formulations of environmental criteria for shipment of cargo, risk assessments, and detailed structural analyses of shipping containers are examples where these data have been applied. For purposes of indexing and data retrieval, the data are catalogued under two major headings: Normal and Abnormal Environments

Cyclic volatile methylsiloxanes in fish from the Baltic Sea.

Science.gov (United States)

Kierkegaard, Amelie; Bignert, Anders; McLachlan, Michael S

2013-10-01

Laboratory studies suggest that the cyclic volatile methylsiloxanes (cVMS) octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4), decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5) and dodecamethylcyclohexasiloxane (D6) will persist in the aquatic environment and bioaccumulate in fish. Here these cVMS were measured in herring collected in the Swedish waters of the Baltic Sea and the North Sea and in grey seals from the Baltic Proper. D4, D5, and D6 were present in herring muscle at concentrations around 10, 200, and 40ngg(-1) lipid weight, respectively. The ratio of these concentrations was similar to the relative magnitude of estimated emissions to water, suggesting that the efficiency of overall transfer through the environment and food web was similar (within a factor 2-3) for the three chemicals. The concentrations of D5 and D6 were similar in herring caught in the highly populated Baltic Proper and in the less populated Bothnian Sea and Bothnian Bay. The D4 concentrations were lower at the most remote northern station, suggesting that D4 is less persistent than D5 and D6. Herring from the North Sea had lower levels of all three chemicals. The concentrations of D4, D5 and D6 in grey seal blubber were lower than the lipid normalized concentrations in herring, indicating that they do not biomagnify in grey seals. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Tides in three enclosed basins: the Baltic, Black and Caspian seas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Igor P Medvedev

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Tides are the main type of sea level variability in the world ocean. However, oceanic tides penetrate weakly, or do not penetrate at all, into enclosed basins such as the Baltic, Black and Caspian seas. Consequently, only directly forced tides are formed in these basins. Long observation time series (up to 123 years in the Baltic Sea and 38 years in the Black and Caspian seas at numerous stations were used to precisely estimate tidal constituents. High-resolution spectra revealed fine structure of discrete peaks at tidal frequencies. The diurnal radiational constituent S1 (1 cpd, apparently associated with breeze winds, was found to play an important role in general tidal dynamics in these seas. Harmonic analysis of tides for individual yearly series with consecutive vector averaging over the entire observational period was applied to estimate mean amplitudes and phases of tidal constituents. Our findings indicate that the formation and predominance of diurnal or semidiurnal tides in these seas appears to depend on the frequency-selective properties of the basins. Thus, in the Baltic Sea with fundamental modal period of about 27 h, diurnal tides dominate in the major eastern gulfs. In the Black Sea resonant amplification of semidiurnal tides is observed in the northwestern part. The predominance of semidiurnal tides in the Caspian Sea has also probably a resonant nature. Maximum tidal heights estimated for a 100-year period are 23 cm in the Baltic Sea, 18 cm in the Black Sea and 21 cm in the southern Caspian Sea.

St. Canute Lavard around the Baltic Sea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petersen, Nils Holger

2018-01-01

This chapter discusses the Baltic Sea-area manifestations of the cult of the Danish Royal saint, Canute the Duke, in Danish, Knud Lavard, during the Middle Ages. It also applies theories of cultural memory by Jan and Aleida Assmann in order to approach an understanding of how the cult of St. Canu...

Faddei Bulgarin ja baltisakslased: enese positsioneerimine äratuskella metafoori kaudu / Faddey Bulgar in and the Baltic Germans. Self-positioning Through the Metaphor of an Alarm Clock

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Boris Veizenen

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The article focuses on the complicated relations between Russian writer and newspaper editor Faddey Bulgarin (1789–1859 and Baltic Germans, and on the self-positioning tactics he used in the town of Tartu, as expressed in his travel stories, articles and political messages. These texts were written for different reasons and for different readers, but despite their pragmatic characteristics, they give an adequate impression of the dynamics of the author’s ideas in differentiating between his self and the other. The theoretical basis of the article is laid on the imagological opposition between one’s own and the other (auto-image and hetero-image. Among the essential factors distinguishing the two are time and its flow. According to Bulgarin, who had acquired Karlova Manor near Tartu, the lives of Baltic Germans flow in an entirely different tempo – cyclical, insular, and orderly, but still somnolent. In his letters from the 1830s describing Tartu and the way of life of its inhabitants, published in the newspaper Северная пчела, Bulgarin creates a much-idealised and nature-centred romantic image in the spirit of Rousseau. He depicts Tartu as a paradise of virtue, an idealised utopia where the author’s spirit can find peace after St. Petersburg’s colourful life of intrigues. However, the writer sees his role as being an alarm clock, a local awakener. This refers not only to his ambitions to play an important role in the town or enhance the dialogue between the Baltic Germans and Russians, but also to increase the cultural and political influence of the Russians. The latter ambition can clearly be seen in the correspondence written in his role as a secret agent and sent to the Third Department (Tsarist Russia’s secret police. The metaphor of an alarm clock, described in such a context, relates to Bulgarin’s role as a “message-bearing angel”, aimed at informing the local Baltic German nobility of the favourable policy

The genetic prehistory of the Baltic Sea region.

Science.gov (United States)

Mittnik, Alissa; Wang, Chuan-Chao; Pfrengle, Saskia; Daubaras, Mantas; Zariņa, Gunita; Hallgren, Fredrik; Allmäe, Raili; Khartanovich, Valery; Moiseyev, Vyacheslav; Tõrv, Mari; Furtwängler, Anja; Andrades Valtueña, Aida; Feldman, Michal; Economou, Christos; Oinonen, Markku; Vasks, Andrejs; Balanovska, Elena; Reich, David; Jankauskas, Rimantas; Haak, Wolfgang; Schiffels, Stephan; Krause, Johannes

2018-01-30

While the series of events that shaped the transition between foraging societies and food producers are well described for Central and Southern Europe, genetic evidence from Northern Europe surrounding the Baltic Sea is still sparse. Here, we report genome-wide DNA data from 38 ancient North Europeans ranging from ~9500 to 2200 years before present. Our analysis provides genetic evidence that hunter-gatherers settled Scandinavia via two routes. We reveal that the first Scandinavian farmers derive their ancestry from Anatolia 1000 years earlier than previously demonstrated. The range of Mesolithic Western hunter-gatherers extended to the east of the Baltic Sea, where these populations persisted without gene-flow from Central European farmers during the Early and Middle Neolithic. The arrival of steppe pastoralists in the Late Neolithic introduced a major shift in economy and mediated the spread of a new ancestry associated with the Corded Ware Complex in Northern Europe.

EU Structural Funds in the Baltic Countries-Useful or Harmful. Euroopa Liidu struktuurifondid Balti riikides- kasulikud või kahjulikud?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Urmas Varblane

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The current article is focused on the role of financial assistance from the European Union in the budgets of the three Baltic countries. They all have seriously benefitted from the support of EU structural funds, which have reached close to five per cent of their GDP. Based on the case of higher education research funding, the article argues that the Baltic countries overlook the additionality principle of the European Union cohesion policy. Structural funds are replacing the Baltic countries’ own funding. During the current EU programming period between 2014 and 2020 the exit strategies should be prepared by the governments of Baltic countries in order to be able to finance research with significantly lower support from EU cohesion funds. The precondition is that instead of a short-run view, in the coalition treaties of the Baltic governments, a long-term strategy for how to move toward knowledge intensive economies is also needed. The first and most urgent need is to improve the quality of use of the EU support funds by all three countries in order to support longrun productivity growth and increase the competitiveness of the Baltic countries.

Transportation Technical Environmental Information Center index

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Davidson, C.A.; Foley, J.T.

1982-06-01

In an effort to determine the environmental intensities to which energy materials in transit may be exposed, a Data Center of technical environmental information has been established by Sandia National Laboratories, Division 5523, for the DOE Office of Transportation Fuel Storage. This document is an index which can be used to request data of interest. Access to the information held is not limited to Sandia personnel.

Transportation Technical Environmental Information Center index

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davidson, C.A.; Foley, J.T.

1982-06-01

In an effort to determine the environmental intensities to which energy materials in transit may be exposed, a Data Center of technical environmental information has been established by Sandia National Laboratories, Division 5523, for the DOE Office of Transportation Fuel Storage. This document is an index which can be used to request data of interest. Access to the information held is not limited to Sandia personnel

Population Development of Baltic Bird Species: Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis) - Update with results from 2011

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Herrmann, Christof; Bregnballe, Thomas; Larsson, Kjell

2011-01-01

pair numbers started to increase during the second half of the 1970s. During the 1980s, the Cormorant started to expand its range towards the northern and eastern parts of the Baltic. Currently, the species is present in the whole Baltic Sea area, including the northern parts of the Gulf of Bothnia....... After a decade of exponential growth, the breeding population of the Cormorant has stabilized in the south-western Baltic (Denmark and the northern Federal States of Germany - Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania) in the 1990s, but breeding populations are still growing in the central...

Distribution and relationships between selected chemical elements in green alga Enteromorpha sp. from the southern Baltic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zbikowski, Radoslaw; Szefer, Piotr; Latala, Adam

2006-01-01

The concentrations of heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn and Mn) and macroelements (K, Na, Ca and Mg) were determined in green alga Enteromorpha sp. from the coastal zone of the southern Baltic including Gulf of Gdansk and Vistula Lagoon in 2000-2003. In order to estimate the degree of accumulation of each element by the green alga, concentration and discrimination factors (CFs) with respect to seawater were calculated. The results of factor analysis (FA) and ANOVA clearly indicate geographical differences between concentrations of chemical elements. Enteromorpha sp. from Vistula Lagoon and the southern Baltic exhibited higher levels of Mn and Ni, and Na and K, respectively. Anthropogenic impact of Cu, Pb and Zn, possibly originated from municipal sewage, was identified in alga samples collected in the Gulf of Gdansk, especially in the vicinity of Gdynia. From comparison our data with those published earlier results that Pb content in Enteromorpha sp. from the Gulf of Gdansk decreased within 1978-2003 reflecting reducing use of leaded petrol in Baltic countries in this period. The alga Enteromorpha sp. can be used for biomonitoring surveys of metal contaminants in coastal areas of the Baltic Sea. - Enteromorpha sp. can be used as efficient biomonitor for chemical elements in coastal areas of the Baltic Sea

Role of emotion in public information on environmental risk and pre-environmental behaviour

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meijnders, A.L.; Midden, C.J.H.; Wilke, H.A.M.

1996-01-01

What role does emotion play in the provision of public information about· the risks of environmental pollution? This is a question that is asked in the research project on the 'Role of emotion in public information on environmental risks and pro-environmental behaviour'. This article describes the

Egg mortality: predation and hydrography in the central Baltic

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Voss, R.; Hinrichsen, H.-H.; Stepputtis, D.

2011-01-01

during the egg phase to be of critical importance. Two years of extensive field investigations in the Bornholm Basin, central Baltic Sea, were undertaken. In 2002, a typical stagnation situation characterized by low salinity and poor oxygen conditions was investigated, and in early 2003, a major inflow...... of North Sea water completely changed the hydrographic conditions by increasing salinity and oxygen content, thereby altering ecological conditions. The goal was to quantify egg mortality caused by predation and hydrography, and to compare these estimates with independent estimates based on cohort analysis....... Results indicated high intra-annual variability in egg mortality. Cod and sprat egg mortality responded differently to the major Baltic inflow: mortality related to hydrographic conditions increased for sprat and decreased for cod. On the other hand, predation mortality during peak spawning decreased...

A New Baltic Population-Specific Human Genetic Marker in the PMCA4 Gene.

Science.gov (United States)

Stavusis, Janis; Inashkina, Inna; Lace, Baiba; Pelnena, Dita; Limborska, Svetlana; Khrunin, Andrey; Kucinskas, Vaidutis; Krumina, Astrida; Piekuse, Linda; Zorn, Branko; Fodina, Violeta; Punab, Margus; Erenpreiss, Juris

2016-01-01

The PMCA gene family consists of 4 genes and at least 21 splice variants; among these, the Ca2+ ATPase 4 (PMCA4) gene encodes a plasma membrane protein abundantly expressed in several tissues, including the kidney, heart, and sperm. Knockout of PMCA4 causes infertility due to immotile sperm in mouse models. We therefore investigated variants in this gene for potential association with infertility in groups of Estonian (n = 191) and Latvian (n = 92) men with reduced sperm motility. All exons, exon-intron boundaries, 5' and 3' untranslated regions, and the promoter region of the PMCA4 gene were analysed by direct sequencing for a group of Estonian infertile men. Genotyping of guanine and adenine alleles of rs147729934 was performed, using a custom-designed TaqMan® probe for a group of Latvian infertile men as well as additional groups from Latvia and several groups of people with proven ethnicity from the Baltic region. Although we did not identify any significant associations between variants in the gene and infertility, our results indicated that in all studied Latvian and Estonian groups the adenine allele of the variant rs147729934 was present at a higher frequency than expected. Analysis of additional samples indicated that the adenine allele of rs147729934 likely originated once in the modern-day Baltic or western Russia area, as the frequency of the minor adenine allele observed in this region is remarkably higher than that in the general European population. Our results revealed no significant difference in frequencies of genetic variants in PMCA4 gene between men with normal and those with reduced sperm motility. The adenine allele of the variant rs147729934 is potentially an informative tool for future population studies concerning ancient Baltic and Finno-Ugric history. © 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel.

On the Baltic Sea Response to Climate Change: Model Implications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Omstedt, Anders; Leppaeranta, Matti

1999-01-01

The sensitivity of the Baltic Sea to climate change is reviewed on the basis of recent model studies. In general, the presently available models indicate that the Baltic Sea is a most sensitive system to climate change, particularly in air temperature, wind, fresh water inflow and the barotropic forcing in the entrance area. Available scenarios for ice conditions and climate warming around year 2100 show 2-3 months' shortening of the ice season in the Bothnian Bay and about 0.4 m decrease in the maximum annual ice thickness. Corresponding scenarios for climate cooling show 1-2 months' longer ice season in the Bothnian Bay and 0.2 - 0.5 m increase in the maximum annual ice thickness

LATEST CHALLENGES IN EFFICIENCY CONVERGENCE IN BALKAN AND BALTIC COUNTRIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mihăiță-Cosmin M. POPOVICI

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The efficiency of banks has been widely and extensively studied in the past few decades. Using a sample of Balkan and Baltic countries and by employing a Data Envelopment Analysis model, we want to highlight the main challenges for the highly concentrated banking system. Over the period 2007 - 2011, these countries have coped with the worst financial crisis from the Great Depression, which has severe effects on the banking systems. Our sample includes the least developed countries in the EU and for reference purpose, Luxembourg, with the highest GDP per capita. We expect to find similarities between Balkan countries and Baltic countries and we can draw lessons from Luxembourg`s results.

Literature review on future development of the Baltic Sea and recommendations for safety modeling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lahdenperae, A.-M.

2006-12-01

The report represents the summary of the main factors, which affects the future development and state of the Baltic Sea. The emphasis is on land uplift, shoreline displacement, and physical, chemical and biological characteristics of the sea. In addition, historical evolution of the Baltic Sea after the last ice age and potential impacts of the different climate scenarios are presented. The Baltic Sea has an important influence on the development of the geospherebiosphere interface zone at Olkiluoto. Thus, it is important to take account all these factors in the Safety Modelling of the nuclear waste repository. Different models have been used to evaluate land uplift at Olkiluoto and changes in the sea and land area, especially in the interface zone. The main parameters have been monitored satisfactory way at the Olkiluoto offshore. Based on the present sea sediment stratigraphy, overburden, topography and vegetation it has been fairly well estimated coming future land and sea areas of the Olkiluoto Island and its surroundings. According to the results, Olkiluoto will be part of the continent during the next decade. In the shallow shores of Olkiluoto, the amounts of common reed are increasing naturally, resulting in paludification. The spatial and temporal changes at Olkiluoto can be estimated and modelled more detailed by using the well focused research sites and more accurate results. In addition, more information is needed on development of the watershed areas, lakes, rivers and vegetation and on sedimentation and erosion processes, hydrology, quality and quantity of seabed sediments and stratigraphy, element budgets and recharge and discharge areas, especially at the geosphere-biosphere interface zones. (orig.)

Simulating Baltic Sea climate for the period 1902-1998 with the Rossby Centre coupled ice-ocean model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Meier, H.E. Markus [Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Inst., Rossby Centre, Norrkoeping (Sweden); Kauker, Frank [Alfred Wegener Inst. for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven (Germany)

2002-12-01

Hindcast simulations for the period 1902-1998 have been performed using a 3D coupled ice-ocean model for the Baltic Sea. Daily sea level observations in Kattegat, monthly basin-wide discharge data, and reconstructed atmospheric surface data have been used to force the Baltic Sea model. The reconstruction utilizes a statistical model to calculate daily sea level pressure and monthly surface air temperature, dew point temperature, precipitation, and cloud cover fields on a 1 deg x 1 deg regular horizontal grid for the Baltic Sea region. An improved turbulence scheme has been implemented into the Baltic Sea model to simulate saltwater inflows realistically. The results are validated against available observational datasets for sea level, salinity, saltwater inflow, volume transport, and sea ice. In addition, a comparison is performed with simulations for the period 1980-1993 using 3-hourly gridded atmospheric observations from synoptic stations. It is shown that the results of the Baltic Sea model forced with the reconstructed data are satisfactory. Sensitivity experiments have been performed to explore the impact of internal mixing, fresh and saltwater inflows, sea ice, and the sea level in Kattegat on the salinity of the Baltic Sea. It is found that the decadal variability of mean salinity is explained partly by decadal volume variations of the accumulated freshwater inflow from river runoff and net precipitation and partly by decadal variations of the large-scale sea level pressure over Scandinavia. During the last century two exceptionally long stagnation periods are found, the 1920s to the 1930s and the 1980s to the mid 1990s. During these periods precipitation, runoff and westerly winds were stronger than normal. Stronger westerly winds caused increased eastward surface-layer transports. Consequently, the mean eastward lower layer transports through the Stolpe Channel is reduced. The response time scale of the Baltic Sea is of the order of 30-40 years. The large

Certified Reference Material IAEA-446 for radionuclides in Baltic Sea seaweed

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pham, M.K.; Benmansour, M.; Carvalho, F.P.

2014-01-01

A Certified Reference Material (CRM) for radionuclides in seaweed (Fucus vesiculosus) from the Baltic Sea (IAEA-446) is described and the results of the certification process are presented. The 40K, 137Cs, 234U and 239þ240Pu radionuclides were certified for this material, and information values...... for 12 other radionuclides (90Sr, 99Tc, 210Pb (210Po), 226Ra, 228Ra, 228Th, 230Th, 232Th, 235U, 238U, 239Pu and 240Pu) are presented. The CRM can be used for Quality Assurance/Quality Control of analysis of radionuclides in seaweed and other biota samples, as well as for development and validation...

Migration waves to the Baltic Sea region.

Science.gov (United States)

Lappalainen, T; Laitinen, V; Salmela, E; Andersen, P; Huoponen, K; Savontaus, M-L; Lahermo, P

2008-05-01

In this study, the population history of the Baltic Sea region, known to be affected by a variety of migrations and genetic barriers, was analyzed using both mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosomal data. Over 1200 samples from Finland, Sweden, Karelia, Estonia, Setoland, Latvia and Lithuania were genotyped for 18 Y-chromosomal biallelic polymorphisms and 9 STRs, in addition to analyzing 17 coding region polymorphisms and the HVS1 region from the mtDNA. It was shown that the populations surrounding the Baltic Sea are genetically similar, which suggests that it has been an important route not only for cultural transmission but also for population migration. However, many of the migrations affecting the area from Central Europe, the Volga-Ural region and from Slavic populations have had a quantitatively different impact on the populations, and, furthermore, the effects of genetic drift have increased the differences between populations especially in the north. The possible explanations for the high frequencies of several haplogroups with an origin in the Iberian refugia (H1, U5b, I1a) are also discussed.

16th Nordic-Baltic Conference on Biomedical Engineering

CERN Document Server

Persson, Mikael

2015-01-01

This volume presents the proceedings of the joint 16th Nordic-Baltic Conference on Biomedical Engineering & Medical Physics and Medicinteknikdagarna 2014!  The conference theme is Strategic Innovation. It aims at inspiring increased triple helix collaborations between health care providers, academia and the medtech industry.

Water circulation and recharge pathways of coastal lakes along the southern Baltic Sea in northern Poland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cieśliński Roman

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to describe water circulation patterns for selected lakes found along the Baltic coast in northern Poland and to determine primary recharge mechanisms or pathways that produce an influx or loss of lake water. A secondary purpose of the paper is to determine the magnitude of recharge for each studied source of water – river water influx, surface runoff from direct catchments, forced influx from polders surrounding lakes, and periodic marine water intrusions from the nearby Baltic Sea. It is also important to determine the magnitude of water outflow from lakes to the sea via existing linkages as well as to compare horizontal influx and outflow data. The study area consisted of five lakes located along the Baltic Sea in northern Poland: Łebsko, Gardno, Bukowo, Kopań, Resko Przymorskie. The main driving force of the studied lakes are large rivers that drain lake catchment areas and periodic brackish water intrusions by the Baltic Sea.

Citizen Participation, Access to Environmental Information and Education in Uruguayan Environmental Law

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gonzalo Iglesias Rossini

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Our country has followed a clear trend towards the recognition of various mechanisms of citizen participation and access to public information regarding environmental issues A few years ago, if, for instance, a person or group of people, concerned about the potential environmental impact caused by the establishment of a factory in their neighborhood, requested information from the Authorities, such request would have most likely been rejected. At present, there is a clear law-making policy towards acknowledging the possibility for a diversity of social players to be involved at different levels. In a State structured under a social rule of law, both community participation and civil society access to information in possession of the State, regarding issues that may affect the environment, are fundamental rights. Both concepts, information and participation, must go hand in hand, as the first operates as a condition to exercise the second. Civil society involvement in an environmental issue could never occur if, for instance, information held by the Government is not made available. In addition to protecting fundamental human rights, these concepts are enshrined in participatory democracy. They also enable civil society to be involved in environmental pollution issues. This paper is intended to provide a detailed research on the different instruments enshrining citizen participation and access to public information about environmental issues.

Transportation Technical Environmental Information Center index

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davidson, C.A.; Foley, J.T.

1979-01-01

In an effort to determine the environmental intensities to which energy materials in transit may be exposed, a ''Data Center'' of technical environmental information has been established by Sandia Laboratories, Division 5522, for the DOE Division of Environmental Control Technology. An index is presented which can be used to request data of interest

Mezhdunarodnoe nauchnoe sotrudnichestvo v Baltijskom regione: naukometricheskij analiz [International research cooperation in the Baltic region: a scientometric analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kuznetsova Tatyana

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This article examines the processes of international research cooperation in the Baltic Sea region. It focuses on research works published in the leading periodicals in 1993—2012. The empirical material is collected from the world’s largest abstract and citation database, SciVerse Scopus, which makes it possible to evaluate macroindicators at the national and global levels as well as the contribution of scholars to the global progress. The article also offers an assessment of the efficiency of research activities in the Baltic Sea region countries. It is based on a number of scientometric indicators that reflect the performance of universities in terms of research journal publications and the development of research cooperation in the field of Baltic studies. The authors consider the dynamics of research contribution and academic cooperation in the Baltic Sea countries in four leading fields — i. e. agricultural and biological sciences, Earth sciences, ecology and social sciences presented in the SciVerse Scopus scientometric database. The article provides a map of research cooperation in the Baltic Sea region.

Spatio-temporal interdependence of bacteria and phytoplankton during a Baltic Sea spring bloom

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carina eBunse

2016-04-01

Full Text Available In temperate systems, phytoplankton spring blooms deplete inorganic nutrients and are major sources of organic matter for the microbial loop. In response to phytoplankton exudates and environmental factors, heterotrophic microbial communities are highly dynamic and change their abundance and composition both on spatial and temporal scales. Yet, most of our understanding about these processes comes from laboratory model organism studies, mesocosm experiments or single temporal transects. Spatial-temporal studies examining interactions of phytoplankton blooms and bacterioplankton community composition and function, though being highly informative, are scarce. In this study, pelagic microbial community dynamics (bacteria and phytoplankton and environmental variables were monitored during a spring bloom across the Baltic Proper (two cruises between North Germany to Gulf of Finland. To test to what extent bacterioplankton community composition relates to the spring bloom, we used next generation amplicon sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene, phytoplankton diversity analysis based on microscopy counts and population genotyping of the dominating diatom Skeletonema marinoi. Several phytoplankton bloom related and environmental variables were identified to influence bacterial community composition. Members of Bacteroidetes and Alphaproteobacteria dominated the bacterial community composition but the bacterial groups showed no apparent correlation with direct bloom related variables. The less abundant bacterial phyla Actinobacteria, Planctomycetes, and Verrucomicrobia, on the other hand, were strongly associated with phytoplankton biomass, diatom:dinoflagellate ratio and colored dissolved organic matter (cDOM. Many bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs showed high niche specificities. For example, particular Bacteroidetes OTUs were associated with two distinct genetic clusters of S. marinoi. Our study revealed the complexity of interactions of bacterial

Cumulative Impact Assessment: Approaching Environmental Capacity in Development Area Using Environmental Impact Assessment Information

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, N.; Lee, M. J.; Maeng, J. H.

2017-12-01

Environmental impact assessment estimates the impact of development as a business unit and establishes mitigation plan. If the development is done, its economic effects can spread to the nearby areas. So that various developments can be distributed at different time intervals. The impact of the new developments can be combined with existing environmental impacts and can have a larger impact. That is, Cumulative impact assessment is needed to consider the environmental capacity of the Nearby area. Cumulative impact assessments require policy tools such as environmental impact assessment information and cumulative impact estimation models. In Korea, environmental information (water quality, air quality, etc.) of the development site is measured for environmental impact assessment and monitored for a certain period (generally 5 years) after the project. In addition, by constructing the environmental information as a spatial database, it is possible to express the environmental impact on a regional basis spatially and to intuitively use it for development site selection. Utilizing a composite model of environmental impact assessment information and Remote Sensing data for cumulative impact estimation, That can be used as a policy decision support tool that provides quantitative information for development area management, such as time series effect and sprawl phenomenon.

Baltic salmon activates immune relevant genes in fin tissue when responding to Gyrodactylus salaris infection

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kania, Per Walther; Larsen, Thomas Bjerre; Ingerslev, Hans C.

2007-01-01

A series of immune relevant genes are expressed when the Baltic salmon responds on infections with the ectoparasite Gyrodactylus salaris which leads to a decrease of the parasite infection......A series of immune relevant genes are expressed when the Baltic salmon responds on infections with the ectoparasite Gyrodactylus salaris which leads to a decrease of the parasite infection...

Innovacionnyj process v regione Baltijskogo morja [The innovative process in the Baltic Sea region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mäkinen Hanna

2012-01-01

Full Text Available In order to maintain its global competitiveness in the future, the Baltic Sea region (BSR needs to preserve and improve its technological capability and innovativeness. This article focuses on innovations in the Baltic Sea region, particularly on external innovation drivers and innovation environments in the BSR and individual countries within the region. Firstly, some definitions of innovations, innovation drivers, and characteristics of a favourable innovation environment are presented. Secondly, the current condition of innovation environments in the BSR is described and the innovation performances of Baltic countries are compared. Finally, the research aims to conclude, as well as to analyse, the future innovation development of the BSR. The research material for this desk study is collected from various sources, including journal articles, statistics, media, research reports, and other publications.

Modelling Potential Consequences of Different Geo-Engineering Treatments for the Baltic Sea Ecosystem

Science.gov (United States)

Schrum, C.; Daewel, U.

2017-12-01

From 1950 onwards, the Baltic Sea ecosystem suffered increasingly from eutrophication. The most obvious reason for the eutrophication is the huge amount of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) reaching the Baltic Sea from human activities. However, although nutrient loads have been decreasing since 1980, the hypoxic areas have not decreased accordingly. Thus, geo-engineering projects were discussed and evaluated to artificially ventilate the Baltic Sea deep water and suppress nutrient release from the sediments. Here, we aim at understanding the consequences of proposed geo-engineering projects in the Baltic Sea using long-term scenario modelling. For that purpose, we utilize a 3d coupled ecosystem model ECOSMO E2E, a novel NPZD-Fish model approach that resolves hydrodynamics, biogeochemical cycling and lower and higher trophic level dynamics. We performed scenario modelling that consider proposed geo-engineering projects such as artificial ventilation of Baltic Sea deep waters and phosphorus binding in sediments with polyaluminium chlorides. The model indicates that deep-water ventilation indeed suppresses phosphorus release in the first 1-4 years of treatment. Thereafter macrobenthos repopulates the formerly anoxic bottom regions and nutrients are increasingly recycled in the food web. Consequently, overall system productivity and fish biomass increases and toxic algae blooms decrease. However, deep-water ventilation has no long-lasting effect on the ecosystem: soon after completion of the ventilation process, the system turns back into its original state. Artificial phosphorus binding in sediments in contrast decreases overall ecosystem productivity through permanent removal of phosphorus. As expected it decreases bacterial production and toxic algae blooms, but it also decreases fish production substantially. Contrastingly to deep water ventilation, artificial phosphorus binding show a long-lasting effect over decades after termination of the treatment.

Comparative Genomics of the Baltic Sea Toxic Cyanobacteria Nodularia spumigena UHCC 0039 and Its Response to Varying Salinity.

Science.gov (United States)

Teikari, Jonna E; Hou, Shengwei; Wahlsten, Matti; Hess, Wolfgang R; Sivonen, Kaarina

2018-01-01

Salinity is an important abiotic factor controlling the distribution and abundance of Nodularia spumigena , the dominating diazotrophic and toxic phototroph, in the brackish water cyanobacterial blooms of the Baltic Sea. To expand the available genomic information for brackish water cyanobacteria, we sequenced the isolate Nodularia spumigena UHCC 0039 using an Illumina-SMRT hybrid sequencing approach, revealing a chromosome of 5,294,286 base pairs (bp) and a single plasmid of 92,326 bp. Comparative genomics in Nostocales showed pronounced genetic similarity among Nodularia spumigena strains evidencing their short evolutionary history. The studied Baltic Sea strains share similar sets of CRISPR-Cas cassettes and a higher number of insertion sequence (IS) elements compared to Nodularia spumigena CENA596 isolated from a shrimp production pond in Brazil. Nodularia spumigena UHCC 0039 proliferated similarly at three tested salinities, whereas the lack of salt inhibited its growth and triggered transcriptome remodeling, including the up-regulation of five sigma factors and the down-regulation of two other sigma factors, one of which is specific for strain UHCC 0039. Down-regulated genes additionally included a large genetic region for the synthesis of two yet unidentified natural products. Our results indicate a remarkable plasticity of the Nodularia salinity acclimation, and thus salinity strongly impacts the intensity and distribution of cyanobacterial blooms in the Baltic Sea.

Comparative Genomics of the Baltic Sea Toxic Cyanobacteria Nodularia spumigena UHCC 0039 and Its Response to Varying Salinity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jonna E. Teikari

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Salinity is an important abiotic factor controlling the distribution and abundance of Nodularia spumigena, the dominating diazotrophic and toxic phototroph, in the brackish water cyanobacterial blooms of the Baltic Sea. To expand the available genomic information for brackish water cyanobacteria, we sequenced the isolate Nodularia spumigena UHCC 0039 using an Illumina-SMRT hybrid sequencing approach, revealing a chromosome of 5,294,286 base pairs (bp and a single plasmid of 92,326 bp. Comparative genomics in Nostocales showed pronounced genetic similarity among Nodularia spumigena strains evidencing their short evolutionary history. The studied Baltic Sea strains share similar sets of CRISPR-Cas cassettes and a higher number of insertion sequence (IS elements compared to Nodularia spumigena CENA596 isolated from a shrimp production pond in Brazil. Nodularia spumigena UHCC 0039 proliferated similarly at three tested salinities, whereas the lack of salt inhibited its growth and triggered transcriptome remodeling, including the up-regulation of five sigma factors and the down-regulation of two other sigma factors, one of which is specific for strain UHCC 0039. Down-regulated genes additionally included a large genetic region for the synthesis of two yet unidentified natural products. Our results indicate a remarkable plasticity of the Nodularia salinity acclimation, and thus salinity strongly impacts the intensity and distribution of cyanobacterial blooms in the Baltic Sea.

International Agreements in the Multispecies Baltic Sea Fisheries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nieminen, Emmi; Kronbak, Lone Grønbæk; Lindroos, Marko

2016-01-01

between the three countries can be stabilised when the most efficient country compensates the other countries. This solution is not feasible when using a single-species model for the cod population; thus, taking into account the multispecies nature of the Baltic Sea fisheries, the scope of cooperation...

Management-focused approach to investigating coastal water-quality drivers and impacts in the Baltic Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Vigouroux, G.; Destouni, G.; Chen, Y.; Bring, A.; Jönsson, A.; Cvetkovic, V.

2017-12-01

Coastal areas link human-driven conditions on land with open sea conditions, and include crucial and vulnerable ecosystems that provide a variety of ecosystem services. Eutrophication is a common problem that is not least observed in the Baltic Sea, where coastal water quality is influenced both by land-based nutrient loading and by partly eutrophic open sea conditions. Robust and adaptive management of coastal systems is essential and necessitates integration of large scale catchment-coastal-marine systems as well as consideration of anthropogenic drivers and impacts, and climate change. To address this coastal challenge, relevant methodological approaches are required for characterization of coupled land, local coastal, and open sea conditions under an adaptive management framework for water quality. In this paper we present a new general and scalable dynamic characterization approach, developed for and applied to the Baltic Sea and its coastal areas. A simple carbon-based water quality model is implemented, dividing the Baltic Sea into main management basins that are linked to corresponding hydrological catchments on land, as well as to each other though aggregated three-dimensional marine hydrodynamics. Relevant hydrodynamic variables and associated water quality results have been validated on the Baltic Sea scale and show good accordance with available observation data and other modelling approaches. Based on its scalability, this methodology is further used on coastal zone scale to investigate the effects of hydrodynamic, hydro-climatic and nutrient load drivers on water quality and management implications for coastal areas in the Baltic Sea.

The Main Drivers of Environmentally Responsible Behaviour in Lithuanian Households

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dalia Streimikiene

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Preserving environmental and natural resources is one of the most important challenges for ensuring the sustainability of well-being over time. One can notice that measuring of environmental indicators related to environmentally responsible behaviour is complicated and demanding task. It is also important to define the main drivers of environmentally responsible development. The objective of this paper is to provide comparatives analysis of indicators of environmentally responsible behaviour in the Baltic States by comparing and assessing them in terms of the EU-28 average and to present the main drivers of environmentally responsible behaviour in Lithuania. Environmentally responsible behaviour is related to resource and energy savings, use of renewable energy sources, waste sorting and recycling, wastewater disposal etc. Comparative assessment of environmentally responsible behaviour indicators in the Baltic States indicated that all these indicators are bellow the EU-average, except the use of renewable energy sources. The main drivers of consumption behaviour in Lithuania were assessed by applying households surveys in order to define the major issues of concern and to develop relevant policies targeting these issues. Age, gender, education, and income of Lithuanian residents do not have impact on environmentally responsible behaviour in Lithuanian households (energy saving, buying energy efficient electric appliances, willingness to pay electricity from renewable energy sources use of biofuels. Only environmental awareness has impact on energy saving behaviour at home and use of biofuels in cars and waste recycle.

Shaping Baltic States Defence Strategy: Host Nation Support

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Otzulis Valdis

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The presence of NATO troops in the Baltic states has increased in the last years due to changing international environment, increased level of potential risks and threats, and necessity to enhance deterrence in the region. As a result of NATO’s Wales and Warsaw summits decisions, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are entitled to host a battalion size battle group. The article aims at investigating how host nation support (HNS can contribute to the national defence and, additionally, to the self-defence capabilities of the Baltic states. The concept of HNS is present in the national defence concepts of all three countries. However, its active application and utilization started in the last two years. The article argues that more intensive incorporation of an HNS system in national defence policies serve the capability development in fields like national military logistics, infrastructure, and civil-military cooperation. Those capabilities can serve as an extension of the national defence.

Artificial radionuclides 90Sr and 241Am in the sediments of the Baltic Sea: Total and spatial inventories and some temporal trends

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hutri, Kaisa-Leena; Mattila, Jukka; Ikäheimonen, Tarja Tuulikki; Vartti, Vesa-Pekka

2013-01-01

Highlights: • The inventories of 137 Sr and 241 Am in the Baltic Sea is studied. • About 20 sediment cores around the Baltic Sea were analyzed. • The results show that 90 Sr distribution is uneven and effected by the Chernobyl fallout. • 241 Am is more evenly distributed in the sediments. • The Baltic Sea is the most contaminated sea with respect to 137 Cs in sediments. -- Abstract: The Baltic Sea was contaminated by radioactivity following global nuclear fallout and later by the Chernobyl accident. Despite the decrease of radioactivity caused by radioactive decay, radionuclides have a prolonged residence time in the water of the Baltic Sea due to slow water exchange and relatively rapid sedimentation. Very little is known about the amounts or spatial differences of 90 Sr and 241 Am in the Baltic Sea sediments. In this study, 20 sediment cores taken around the Baltic Sea were investigated to estimate inventories of these radionuclides. The rough results show that the Chernobyl fallout added the amount of 90 Sr in the same areas where the increase of 137 Cs can be detected, whereas this is not the case for 241 Am which is more evenly distributed in the sea bottom. In addition, local differences occur in the concentrations. These results are an important amendment to the radioactivity baseline of the Baltic Sea

Future changes in the Baltic Sea acid–base (pH and oxygen balances

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anders Omstedt

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Possible future changes in Baltic Sea acid–base (pH and oxygen balances were studied using a catchment–sea coupled model system and numerical experiments based on meteorological and hydrological forcing datasets and scenarios. By using objective statistical methods, climate runs for present climate conditions were examined and evaluated using Baltic Sea modelling. The results indicate that increased nutrient loads will not inhibit future Baltic Sea acidification; instead, the seasonal pH cycle will be amplified by increased biological production and mineralization. All examined scenarios indicate future acidification of the whole Baltic Sea that is insensitive to the chosen global climate model. The main factor controlling the direction and magnitude of future pH changes is atmospheric CO2 concentration (i.e. emissions. Climate change and land-derived changes (e.g. nutrient loads affect acidification mainly by altering the seasonal cycle and deep-water conditions. Apart from decreasing pH, we also project a decreased saturation state of calcium carbonate, decreased respiration index and increasing hypoxic area – all factors that will threaten the marine ecosystem. We demonstrate that substantial reductions in fossil-fuel burning are needed to minimise the coming pH decrease and that substantial reductions in nutrient loads are needed to reduce the coming increase in hypoxic and anoxic waters.

Model-supported estimation of mortality rates in Baltic cod (Gadus morhua callarias L. larvae: the varying impact of 'critical periods'

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hinrichsen Hans-Harald

2001-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Changes in the survival-rate during the larval phase may strongly influence the recruitment level in marine fish species. During the larval phase different 'critical periods' are discussed, e.g. the hatching period and the first-feeding period. No such information was available for the Baltic cod stock, a commercially important stock showing reproduction failure during the last years. We calculated field-based mortality rates for larval Baltic cod during these phases using basin-wide abundance estimates from two consecutive surveys. Survey information was corrected by three dimensional hydrodynamic model runs. Results The corrections applied for transport were of variable impact, depending on the prevailing circulation patterns. Especially at high wind forcing scenarios, abundance estimates have the potential to be biased without accounting for transport processes. In May 1988 mortality between hatch and first feeding amounted to approximately 20% per day. Mortality rates during the onset of feeding were considerably lower with only 7% per day. In August 1991 the situation was vice versa: Extremely low mortality rates of 0.08% per day were calculated between hatch and first feeding, while the period between the onset of feeding to the state of an established feeder was more critical with mortality rates of 22% per day. Conclusions Mortality rates during the different proposed 'critical periods' were found to be highly variable. Survival rates of Baltic cod are not only influenced by a single 'critical period', but can be limited at different points during the larval phase, depending on several biotic and abiotic factors.

UIS BW environmental information system Baden-Wuerttemberg. R+D project INOVUM. Innovative environmental information systems. Phase I 2014/16

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weissenbach, Kurt; Schillinger, Wolfgang; Weidemann, Rainer

2016-01-01

The R and D project INOVUM of the Ministry for the Environment, Climate and Energy Baden-Wuerttemberg relies on a wide cooperation with partners from government, science and industry to jointly develop governmental environmental information systems. In the focus of this project phase were, e.g. a revision of the framework concept for the Environmental Information System Baden-Wuerttemberg, service-based applications, the development of environmental portals, mobile applications and map services.

Nutrient control of cyanobacterial blooms in the Baltic Sea

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stal, L.J.; Staal, M.J.; Villbrandt, M.

1999-01-01

Cyanobacterial blooms in the Baltic Sea were investigated with respect to growth Limitation and nitrogen fixation. The community was composed predominantly of Synechococcus spp., and large, heterocystous, nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria (Aphanizomenon spp, and Nodularia spp.), that usually formed

Air Baltic: Estonian Air on nurka surutud / Teele Tammeorg

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Tammeorg, Teele

2010-01-01

Air Balticu asepresidendi Janis Vanagsi hinnangul on Estonian Air aastaid jätnud tähelepanuta oma peamised turismiturud ning on praegu halvas seisus. Air Baltic on endiselt huvitatud Estonian Airi ostust. Majandus- ja kommunikatsiooniminister Juhan Partsi seisukoht

President of the Republic at the U. S.-Baltic Foundation Awards Dinner / Toomas Hendrik Ilves

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Ilves, Toomas Hendrik, 1953-

2008-01-01

Vabariigi Presidendi kõne Ameerika-Balti Fondi auhindade üleandmise pidulikul õhtusöögil, 19. aprillil 2008 Washingtonis. President Toomas Hendrik Ilves pälvis Balti riikide ja Ameerika Ühendriikide suhete edendamise eest Ameerika-Balti Fondi (USBF - The United States-Baltic Foundation) autasu - Baltic Statesmanship Award'i. Vabariigi President töövisiidil Ameerika Ühendriikides 17.-23.04.2008

Integrating information for better environmental decisions.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

MacDonell, M.; Morgan, K.; Newland, L.; Environmental Assessment; Texas Christian Univ.

2002-01-01

As more is learned about the complex nature and extent of environmental impacts from progressive human disturbance, scientists, policy analysts, decision makers, educators, and communicators are increasingly joining forces to develop strategies for preserving and protecting the environment. The Eco-Informa Foundation is an educational scientific organization dedicated to promoting the collaborative development and sharing of scientific information. The Foundation participated in a recent international conference on environmental informatics through a special symposium on integrating information for better environmental decisions. Presentations focused on four general themes: (1) remote sensing and data interpretation, including through new knowledge management tools; (2) risk assessment and communication, including for radioactively contaminated facilities, introduced biological hazards, and food safety; (3) community involvement in cleanup projects; and (4) environmental education. The general context for related issues, methods and applications, and results and recommendations from those discussions are highlighted here.

Nord stream: not just a pipeline. An analysis of the political debates in the Baltic Sea region regarding the planned gas pipeline from Russia to Germany

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Whist, Bendik Solum

2008-11-15

This report is an analysis of the planned gas pipeline from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea known as Nord Stream. Although not yet realised, the project has, since its birth, been the subject of harsh criticism and opposition by a significant number of states that consider themselves affected by the pipeline. Whereas the Baltic States and Poland have interpreted the pipeline as a politically motivated strategy that will increase Russia's leverage on them and threaten their energy security, the debate in Sweden was at first mostly concerned with the prospect of increased Russian military presence in the Swedish Exclusive Economic Zone. The potential environmental impact of the pipeline has been, and continues to be, an overarching concern shared by all the littoral states of the Baltic Sea. Proponents of Nord Stream, most notably Germany, Russia and the Nord Stream consortium, have largely dismissed the concerns as unwarranted and argue that the pipeline is a common European project that all EU-members should embrace, as it will provide much-needed gas to an increasingly energy-thirsty union. This report is an extensive study of the divergent attitudes and debates that have surged in the region regarding Nord Stream, and the aim is to provide plausible explanations as to why the interpretations of the project have been so different in the various states. The report is based on a variety of sources, including several first-hand interviews with researchers and government officials in the Baltic Sea region. (author). refs.,fig.,tabs

Nord stream: not just a pipeline. An analysis of the political debates in the Baltic Sea region regarding the planned gas pipeline from Russia to Germany

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Whist, Bendik Solum

2008-11-15

This report is an analysis of the planned gas pipeline from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea known as Nord Stream. Although not yet realised, the project has, since its birth, been the subject of harsh criticism and opposition by a significant number of states that consider themselves affected by the pipeline. Whereas the Baltic States and Poland have interpreted the pipeline as a politically motivated strategy that will increase Russia's leverage on them and threaten their energy security, the debate in Sweden was at first mostly concerned with the prospect of increased Russian military presence in the Swedish Exclusive Economic Zone. The potential environmental impact of the pipeline has been, and continues to be, an overarching concern shared by all the littoral states of the Baltic Sea. Proponents of Nord Stream, most notably Germany, Russia and the Nord Stream consortium, have largely dismissed the concerns as unwarranted and argue that the pipeline is a common European project that all EU-members should embrace, as it will provide much-needed gas to an increasingly energy-thirsty union. This report is an extensive study of the divergent attitudes and debates that have surged in the region regarding Nord Stream, and the aim is to provide plausible explanations as to why the interpretations of the project have been so different in the various states. The report is based on a variety of sources, including several first-hand interviews with researchers and government officials in the Baltic Sea region. (author). refs.,fig.,tabs

Baltic Metal - metallisektori koostööorgan / Endel Soon

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Soon, Endel

2004-01-01

Ilmunud ka: EAKL Teataja : Narodnaja Gazeta, märts, nr. 3, 2004, lk. 4. Riias toimus Balti- ja Põhjamaade metalliala ametiühinguorganisatsioonide esindajate ühisnõupidamine. Kirjutati alla Baltimaade metallisektori koostööorgani Baltic Metal moodustamise leping

Dwarfism of blue mussels in the low saline Baltic Sea — growth to the lower salinity limit

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Riisgård, Hans Ulrik; Larsen, Poul Scheel; Turja, Raisa

2014-01-01

Mussels within the Baltic Mytilus edulis × M. trossulus hybrid zone have adapted to the low salinities in the Baltic Sea which, however, results in slow-growing dwarfed mussels. To get a better understanding of the nature of dwarfism, we studied the ability of M. trossulus to feed and grow at low...... to become negative below 4.5 psu. We suggest that reduced ability to produce shell material at extremely low salinity may explain dwarfism of mussels in the Baltic Sea. Reduced bio-calcification at low salinity, however, may impede shell growth, but not somatic growth, and this may at first result...

Technology-based management of environmental organizations using an Environmental Management Information System (EMIS): Design and development

Science.gov (United States)

Kouziokas, Georgios N.

2016-01-01

The adoption of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in environmental management has become a significant demand nowadays with the rapid growth of environmental information. This paper presents a prototype Environmental Management Information System (EMIS) that was developed to provide a systematic way of managing environmental data and human resources of an environmental organization. The system was designed using programming languages, a Database Management System (DBMS) and other technologies and programming tools and combines information from the relational database in order to achieve the principal goals of the environmental organization. The developed application can be used to store and elaborate information regarding: human resources data, environmental projects, observations, reports, data about the protected species, environmental measurements of pollutant factors or other kinds of analytical measurements and also the financial data of the organization. Furthermore, the system supports the visualization of spatial data structures by using geographic information systems (GIS) and web mapping technologies. This paper describes this prototype software application, its structure, its functions and how this system can be utilized to facilitate technology-based environmental management and decision-making process.

Reinforcing Deterrence on NATO’s Eastern Flank: Wargaming the Defense of the Baltics

Science.gov (United States)

2016-01-01

SUMMARY ■ C O R P O R A T I O N Reinforcing Deterrence on NATO’s Eastern Flank Wargaming the Defense of the Baltics David A. Shlapak and Michael...and stability between Moscow and its Western neighbors and raised concerns about its larger intentions. From the perspective of the North Atlantic...After eastern Ukraine, the next most likely targets for an attempted Russian coercion are the Baltic Republics of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania

Tria Pharmaceuticals in the Baltics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kratochvil, Renate; Nell, Phillip C.

2016-01-01

Linda, a management consultant, had to solve a tricky problem regarding difficulties with the 'Baltic region subsidiary' of a global pharmaceutical company. She was hired by their Regional Headquarters (RHQ) for Central and Eastern Europe to disentangle this multifaceted challenge (eg sales down...... on the topic were the cultural misunderstandings between the employees of the various countries, or the company’s outdated products. Linda was challenged to, first, get a clear and comprehensive picture of the situation, and, second, propose a well-conceived solution to the RHQ. This case is written as a two...

[History of pedagogy and educational sciences in the Baltic countries from 1940 to 1990. An overview] / Mare Oja

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Oja, Mare, 1960-

2014-01-01

Arvustus: History of pedagogy and educational sciences in the Baltic countries from 1940 to 1990. An overview. Hrsg. im Auftrag der Baltic Association of Historians of Pedagogy von Vadim Rõuk und Vidimantas Raudys. Verlag RaKa. Riga 2013

Quantifying predation on Baltic cod early life stages

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Neumann, Viola; Schaber, Matthias; Eero, Margit

2017-01-01

Predation on cod (Gadus morhua) eggs by sprat (Sprattus sprattus) and herring (Clupea harengus) is known to be one of the processes influencing reproductive success of the eastern Baltic cod and has been reported to have contributed to lack of recovery of the stock in the 1990s. This study quanti...

Less ice on the Baltic reduces the extent of hypoxic bottom waters and sedimentary phosphorus release

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vermaat, J.E.; Bouwer, L.M.

2009-01-01

A significant relation was established between the maximum extent of sea ice covering the Baltic Sea and the hypoxic area in the deeper parts of the Baltic Proper, with a lag of 2 years: for the period 1970-2000, less ice was correlated with a smaller anoxic area. At the same time, maximum ice

Information technologies in environmental engineering. Proceedings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Athanasiadis, Ioannis N.; Rizzoli, Andrea E. [Istituto dalle Molle di Studi sull' Intelligenza Artificiale (IDSIA), Manno (Switzerland); Mitkas, Pericles A. [Aristotle Univ. of Thessaloniki (Greece); Marx Gomez, Jorge (eds.) [Oldenburg Univ. (Germany). Abt. Wirtschaftsinformatik

2009-07-01

Information technologies have evolved to an enabling science for natural resource management and conservation, environmental engineering, scientific simulation and integrated assessment studies. Computing plays a significant role in every day practices of environmental engineers, natural scientists, economists, and social scientists. The complexity of natural phenomena requires interdisciplinary approaches, where computing science offers the infrastructure for environmental data collection and management, scientific simulations, decision support documentation and reporting. Ecology, environmental engineering and natural resource management comprise an excellent real-world testbed for IT system demonstration, while raising new challenges for computer science. Complexity, uncertainty and scaling issues of natural systems form a demanding application domain for sensor networks and earth observation systems; modelling, simulation and scientific workflows, data management and reporting, decision support and intelligent systems, distributed computing environments, geographical information systems, heterogeneous systems integration, software engineering, accounting systems and control systems. This books offers a collection of papers presented at the 4th International Symposium on Environmental Engineering, held in May 2009, in Thessaloniki, Greece. Recent success stories in ecoinformatics, promising ideas and new challenges are discussed among computer scientists, environmental engineers, economists and social scientists, demonstrating new paradigms for problem solving and decision making. (orig.)

Salinity change in the Baltic Sea during the last 8,500 years: evidence, causes and models

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Westman, Per; Wastegaard, Stefan; Schoning, Kristian [Stockholm Univ. (Sweden). Dept. of Quaternary Research; Gustafsson, Bo [Oceanus Havsundersoekningar, Goeteborg (Sweden); Omstedt, Anders [SMHI, Norrkoeping (Sweden)

1999-12-01

The salinity influences which ecosystems will dominate in the coastal area and what property radionuclides have. Salinity is also an important boundary condition for the transport models in the geosphere. Knowledge about the past salinity is important background to evaluate the hydrology and geochemistry in the rock and further to assess the radiological consequences of possible releases from a radioactive repository. This report concerns the salinity in the Baltic Sea during the last 8500 calendar years BP. Shore-level data for the inlet areas and proxy (indirect) data for the palaeo-salinity and the climate are reviewed. These data is further used in a steady-state model for the salt exchange between the Baltic Sea and Kattegat. This will then be extended to a model of the future development of the salinity in the Baltic Sea. We conclude that the changes in the inlet cross-section areas together with a 15% to 60% lower net freshwater input compared to the present input can explain the higher salinity in the Baltic Sea during earlier times.

Twenty five years of invasion: management of the round goby Neogobius melanostomus in the Baltic Sea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ojaveer, Henn; Galil, Bella S.; Lehtiniemi, Maiju

2015-01-01

The round goby, Neogobius melanostomus (Pallas, 1814), is one of the most invasive non-indigenous species in the Baltic Sea. It dominates coastal fisheries in some localities and is frequently found in offshore pelagic catches. This paper identifies management issues and suggests actions to be co......The round goby, Neogobius melanostomus (Pallas, 1814), is one of the most invasive non-indigenous species in the Baltic Sea. It dominates coastal fisheries in some localities and is frequently found in offshore pelagic catches. This paper identifies management issues and suggests actions...... to be considered for post-invasion management. Priority should be given to the establishment of a coordinated pan-Baltic monitoring programme and associated data storage and exchange, as well as the compilation of landing statistics of the round goby in commercial and recreational fisheries. While eradication...... is unrealistic, population control that leads to minimising the risk of transfer to yet uncolonised areas in the Baltic Sea and adjacent waterbodies is feasible. This should comprise the requirement that the species be landed in commercial fishery bycatch, the management of ships’ ballast water and sediments...

Salinity change in the Baltic Sea during the last 8,500 years: evidence, causes and models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Westman, Per; Wastegaard, Stefan; Schoning, Kristian; Omstedt, Anders

1999-12-01

The salinity influences which ecosystems will dominate in the coastal area and what property radionuclides have. Salinity is also an important boundary condition for the transport models in the geosphere. Knowledge about the past salinity is important background to evaluate the hydrology and geochemistry in the rock and further to assess the radiological consequences of possible releases from a radioactive repository. This report concerns the salinity in the Baltic Sea during the last 8500 calendar years BP. Shore-level data for the inlet areas and proxy (indirect) data for the palaeo-salinity and the climate are reviewed. These data is further used in a steady-state model for the salt exchange between the Baltic Sea and Kattegat. This will then be extended to a model of the future development of the salinity in the Baltic Sea. We conclude that the changes in the inlet cross-section areas together with a 15% to 60% lower net freshwater input compared to the present input can explain the higher salinity in the Baltic Sea during earlier times

A comparative assessment of the innovation potential of the Baltic Sea region countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Klemeshev Andrey

2011-06-01

Full Text Available This article offers a comparative assessment of the Baltic region countries on the basis of three groups of indicators — indicators of economic and research potential, indicators of dynamics of economic and research potential development, and indicators of economic and innovation potential of the states of the region. The author emphasises the need for Russia to cooperate with other countries of the region in the field of innovations as well as the possible role for the Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University in this process.

Eco-physiological Baltic picoplankton analysis and its implementation in Synechoccocus species life cycle numerical algorithm

Science.gov (United States)

Cieszyńska, Agata; Śliwińska-Wilczewska, Sylwia

2017-04-01

Picocyanobacteria strain of the genus Synechococcus are extremely important organisms in the world's oceans. Synechococcus sp. is distributed widely in the oceans and freshwater ecosystems. However, the presence of picoplankton and its account for marine biomass were ignored in environmental studies before 1970. This was probably connected with too low accuracy of research equipment for examining such small organisms. In 1979 the picoplankton assemblages were defined to be present en masse in marine environments. Despite its association with open ocean systems, it is becoming increasingly evident in recent years that Synechococcus sp. is a significant contributor to cyanobacterial blooms. Moreover, bloom of picocyanobacteria, accompanied by a drastic ecological crisis was a new phenomenon in Europe, which needed careful investigation. In the Baltic Sea, picocyanobacteria belongs mainly to the genus Synechococcus. Depending on pigment content, they are classified as red strains with phycoerythrin, green strains rich in phycocyanin, and the phycourobilin (brown strains) containing cyanobacteria rich in phycoerythrin. So far, picocyanobacteria in the area of interest have been being studied insufficiently. The knowledge of picocyanobacteria life cycle needs to be improved as these microorganisms can comprise even about 98% of marine biomass and are able to excrete many toxic and harmful substances. Different eco-physiological conditions influence growth of Baltic picocyanobacteria. In this study, three strains of Synechococcus sp. (red: BA-120, green: BA-124 and brown: BA-132) were isolated from the coastal zone of the Gulf of Gdańsk (southern Baltic Sea) and analyzed in laboratory under previously determined eco-physiological conditions. These conditions were as follows: temperature from 15 to 25°C, salinity from 3 to 13 and insolation in Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) spectrum from 10 to 190 μmol photons m-2 s-1. Scenarios reflecting all possible

Towards an event stratigraphy for Baltic Sea sediments deposited since AD 1900

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Moros, Matthias; Andersen, Thorbjørn Joest; Schulz-Bull, Detlef

2017-01-01

of anthropogenic radionuclides (137Cs/241Am/bomb14C), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), lead (Pb) and stable lead isotope (206/207Pb ratios), and radionuclide 210Pb and 14C decay dating methods. Marker horizons consisting of chemical precipitates formed by documented Major Baltic Inflow (MBIs) events...... and an extended diatom bloom period were also integrated into the model. The main time markers in Baltic Sea sediments that formed during the last 120 years were the following: (i) the deepest observation of 210Pbunsupp. (marking the 210Pb dating horizon) and departure of Hg from natural background levels at c...

Radiocaesium from Chernobyl in benthic algae along the Swedish Baltic Sea coast

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Snoeijs, P.

1993-01-01

The concentrations of 137 Cs, 134 Cs and 40 K were measured in samples taken from the upper littoral along the Swedish Baltic Sea coast in 1990 and 1991. The results were compared with earlier measurements carried out 1984-1989, and some unpublished data from these years are presented as well. The levels of radiocesium in algae that belong to different algal groups were compared, and the value of different algal species as monitoring organisms for radionuclides in the Baltic Sea was discussed. Suggestions for future monitoring and future research are given. 10 refs, 5 figs, 10 tabs

TBT and its metabolites in sediments: Survey at a German coastal site and the central Baltic Sea.

Science.gov (United States)

Abraham, Marion; Westphal, Lina; Hand, Ines; Lerz, Astrid; Jeschek, Jenny; Bunke, Dennis; Leipe, Thomas; Schulz-Bull, Detlef

2017-08-15

Since the 1950s the organotin compound tributyltin (TBT) was intensively used in antifouling paints for marine vessels and it became of concern for the marine environment. Herein, we report on a study from 2015 on TBT and its metabolites monobutyltin (MBT) and dibutyltin (DBT) in sediments from the central Baltic Sea and a Baltic Sea coastal site with strong harbor activities (Warnemünde). Sublayers from a sediment core from the Arkona Basin were analyzed to investigate the long term organotin pressure for the Baltic Sea. For the central Baltic Sea total organotin (MBT+DBT+TBT) ranged from 100 to 500ng/g TOC with distinct areas of high organotin content probably due to historical inputs. For the coastal site total organotin ranged from 10,000 to 60,000ng/g TOC. MBT and DBT were the predominant organotin species detected. Overall, the data obtained indicate the progress of TBT degradation at the investigated sites. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Informative advertising by an environmental group

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heijnen, Pim

Consuming a product does not (necessarily) reveal the environmental damage it may cause. In terms of environmental damage, most goods are credence goods. Therefore, advertising and pricing rarely can transmit such information effectively to consumers. This article considers the scope with which an

Trend Analysis of Nitrogen Deposition to Baltic Sea and its sub basins

Science.gov (United States)

Semeena, V. S.; Jerzy, Bartnicki

2009-04-01

Since the beginning of last century, Baltic Sea has changed from a clear-water sea into a eutrophic marine environment. Eutrophication is the major problem in the Baltic Sea. Excessive nitrogen and phosphorus loads coming from land-based sources within and outside the catchment area of the bordering countries of the Baltic Sea are the main cause of the eutrophication in the sea. Even though a major part of nitrogen(75%) and phosphorus load(95%) enter the sea via rivers or as water-born discharges, 25% of the nitrogen load comes as atmospheric deposition. Numerical models are the best tools to measure atmospheric deposition into sea waters. We have used the latest version of the Unified EMEP model - which has been developed at the EMEP/MSC-W (Meteorological Synthesizing Centre - West of EMEP) for simulating atmospheric transport and deposition of acidifying and eutrophying compounds as well as photo-oxidants in Europe- to study the trends in atmospheric deposition of nitrogen into Baltic Sea for the period 1995-2006. The model domain covers Europe and the Atlantic Ocean. The model grid (of the size 170×133) has a horizontal resolution of 50 km at 60o N, which is consistent with the resolution of emission data reported to CLRTAP. Approximately 10 of these layers are placed below 2 km to obtain high resolution of the boundary layer which is of special importance to the long range transport of air pollution. EMEP model has been thouroughly validated (Fagerli et.al.[1], Simpson et.al.[2], Simpson et.al.[3] ) The contribution of deposition of nitrogen into Baltic Sea from each of the bordering countries of the Baltic Sea and the deposition trends for the period 1995-2006 has been analysed and the results will be presented. References: [1]. Fagerli H., Simpson D. and Aas W.: Model performance for sulphur and nitrogen compounds for the period 1980 to 2000. [In:] L. Tarraśon, (editor), Transboundary Acidification, Eutrophication and Ground Level Ozone in Europe. EMEP

Transplant experiments uncover Baltic Sea basin-specific responses in bacterioplankton community composition and metabolic activities

OpenAIRE

Lindh, Markus V.; Figueroa, Daniela; Sjöstedt, Johanna; Baltar, Federico; Lundin, Daniel; Andersson, Agneta; Legrand, Catherine; Pinhassi, Jarone

2015-01-01

Anthropogenically induced changes in precipitation are projected to generate increased river runoff to semi-enclosed seas, intensifying loads of terrestrial dissolved organic matter and decreasing salinity. To determine how bacterial community structure and functioning adjust to such changes, we designed microcosm transplant experiments with Baltic Proper (salinity 7.2) and Bothnian Sea (salinity 3.6) water. Baltic Proper bacteria generally reached higher abundance than Bothnian Sea bacteria ...

Characterizing and predicting the distribution of Baltic Sea flounder (Platichthys flesus) during the spawning season

Science.gov (United States)

Orio, Alessandro; Bergström, Ulf; Casini, Michele; Erlandsson, Mårten; Eschbaum, Redik; Hüssy, Karin; Lehmann, Andreas; Ložys, Linas; Ustups, Didzis; Florin, Ann-Britt

2017-08-01

Identification of essential fish habitats (EFH), such as spawning habitats, is important for nature conservation, sustainable fisheries management and marine spatial planning. Two sympatric flounder (Platichthys flesus) ecotypes are present in the Baltic Sea, pelagic and demersal spawning flounder, both displaying ecological and physiological adaptations to the low-salinity environment of this young inland sea. In this study we have addressed three main research questions: 1) What environmental conditions characterize the spatial distribution and abundance of adult flounder during the spawning season? 2) What are the main factors defining the habitats of the two flounder ecotypes during the spawning season? 3) Where are the potential spawning areas of flounder? We modelled catch per unit of effort (CPUE) of flounder from gillnet surveys conducted over the southern and central Baltic Sea in the spring of 2014 and 2015 using generalized additive models. A general model included all the stations fished during the survey while two other models, one for the demersal and one for the pelagic spawning flounder, included only the stations where each flounder ecotype should dominate. The general model captured distinct ecotype-specific signals as it identified dual salinity and water depth responses. The model for the demersal spawning flounder revealed a negative relation with the abundance of round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) and a positive relation with Secchi depth and cod abundance. Vegetation and substrate did not play an important role in the choice of habitat for the demersal ecotype. The model for the pelagic spawning flounder showed a negative relation with temperature and bottom current and a positive relation with salinity. Spatial predictions of potential spawning areas of flounder showed a decrease in habitat availability for the pelagic spawning flounder over the last 20 years in the central part of the Baltic Sea, which may explain part of the observed

Effects of the 2014 major Baltic inflow on methane and nitrous oxide dynamics in the water column of the central Baltic Sea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Myllykangas, Jukka-Pekka; Jilbert, Tom; Jakobs, Gunnar

2017-01-01

In late 2014, a large, oxygen-rich salt water inflow entered the Baltic Sea and caused considerable changes in deep water oxygen concentrations. We studied the effects of the inflow on the concentration patterns of two greenhouse gases, methane and nitrous oxide, during the following year (2015...

Assessment of Wind Production Impacts to a Power System and Market Formation in Baltic

OpenAIRE

Turcik, M; Obuševs, A; Oļeiņikova, I; Junghāns, G

2013-01-01

This paper is related to the topical problem of expanding wind production integration to the power system and electricity markets. The model for simulation of wind production curves according to the development of wind capacities in Baltic is proposed. In order to evaluate the effect of the wind power integration to the price formation as well as level of system penetration by wind, methodology and algorithms taking into account the development scenarios in Baltic are pre...

ENTRERPRENEURIAL CATCH UP AND NEW INDUSTRIAL COMPETENCE BLOC FORMATION IN THE BALTIC SEA REGION

OpenAIRE

Eliasson, Gunnar; Braunerhjelm, Pontus

2012-01-01

Historically, the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) has been an institutionally homogeneous economy, integrated economically and culturally through the sea lanes of the Baltic. After WWII the BSR was broken up into a dual economy, consisting of a poor Soviet block of centrally planned economies, on the one hand, and the industrially advanced BSR economies Finland, Denmark, Germany and Sweden, on the other. 1990 saw the break up of the soviet political system. The liberated, but poor formerly planned ec...

Long-term variability of extreme waves in the Caspian, Black, Azov and Baltic Seas

Science.gov (United States)

Arkhipkin, Victor; Dobroliubov, Sergey

2013-04-01

In order to study extreme storm waves in the Caspian, Black, Azov and Baltic Sea we used the spectral wave model SWAN. Significant wave height, swell and sea height, direction of propagation, their length and period were calculated with the NCEP/NCAR (1,9°x1,9°, 4-daily) reanalysis wind forcing from 1948 to 2010 in the Caspian, Black and Baltic Seas and with the NCEP/CFSR (0,3°x0,3°, 1 hour) for the period from 1979 to 2010 in the Azov Sea. The calculations were performed on supercomputers of Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU). The spatial resolution of the numerical grid was of order 5 km for the Caspian, Baltic and Black Seas, 2 km for the Azov Sea. These model wave hindcasts were used to calculate interannual and seasonal variability of the storm frequency, location and duration. The Initial Distribution Method and Annual Maxima Series Methods were used to study probable waves of a century reoccurrence. The long-term variability of extreme waves revealed different trends in the investigated seas. The Caspian and Azov seas decreased the storm activity, while in the Baltic Sea the number of storm cases increased and the Black Sea showed no significant trend. The of more than 12 m were observed in two centers in the middle part of the Caspian Sea and in the center of the Baltic Sea. In the Black Sea the extreme waves of the same probability of more than 14 m were found in the region to the south of the Crimean peninsula. In the Azov Sea the highest waves of a century reoccurrence do not exceed 5 m. The work was done in Natural Risk Assessment Laboratory, MSU under contract G.34.31.0007.

Ecologically relevant choanoflagellates collected from hypoxic water masses of the Baltic Sea have untypical mitochondrial cristae

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wylezich Claudia

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Protist communities inhabiting oxygen depleted waters have so far been characterized through both microscopical observations and sequence based techniques. However, the lack of cultures for abundant taxa severely hampers our knowledge on the morphology, ecology and energy metabolism of hypoxic protists. Cultivation of such protists has been unsuccessful in most cases, and has never yet succeeded for choanoflagellates, even though these small bacterivorous flagellates are known to be ecologically relevant components of aquatic protist communities. Results Quantitative data for choanoflagellates and the vertical distribution of Codosiga spp. at Gotland and Landsort Deep (Baltic Sea indicate its preference for oxygen-depleted zones. Strains isolated and cultivated from these habitats revealed ultrastructural peculiarities such as mitochondria showing tubular cristae never seen before for choanoflagellates, and the first observation of intracellular prokaryotes in choanoflagellates. Analysis of their partial 28S rRNA gene sequence complements the description of two new species, Codosiga minima n. sp. and C. balthica n. sp. These are closely related with but well separated from C. gracilis (C. balthica and C. minima p-distance to C. gracilis 4.8% and 11.6%, respectively. In phylogenetic analyses the 18S rRNA gene sequences branch off together with environmental sequences from hypoxic habitats resulting in a wide cluster of hypoxic Codosiga relatives so far only known from environmental sequencing approaches. Conclusions Here, we establish the morphological and ultrastructural identity of an environmental choanoflagellate lineage. Data from microscopical observations, supplemented by findings from previous culture-independent methods, indicate that C. balthica is likely an ecologically relevant player of Baltic Sea hypoxic waters. The possession of derived mitochondria could be an adaptation to life in hypoxic environments

Bringing Western-standard service stations to the Baltic countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pesonen, H.

1992-01-01

Neste is the only Western oil company so far to have established a service station presence in the Baltic, with the exception of Norway's Statoil, which has one outlet near Tallinn Airport. Neste has an important logistical advantage compared to other companies in this respect as its two Finnish refineries are ideally located for supplying the region with high-quality petroleum products. Neste's first joint venture in the Baltic, Traffic Service, based in Estonia, was set up with Eesti Kutus in 1988 and opened its first service station in 1990. Other joint ventures are now up and running in Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and St. Petersburg. A total of 10 - 15 stations, the majority strategically located along the route of the Via Baltica, are expected to be operational by the end of this year. The Neste network comprises a combination of new outlets and refurbished older stations that have been modernized to bring them up to Western standards. These offer a comprehensive range of fuels, lubricants, spare parts, and accessories, as well as food, confectionery, and coffee shop services. Some stations also offer repair and car wash facilities. Adapting to the transition from a communist economy to a Western, capitalist one has not been easy for the Baltic countries, and has inevitably created difficulties for companies like Neste, in areas such as legislation covering land ownership. Neste's joint ventures have also encountered difficulties in instilling the Western approach to business efficiency, and customer service in a workforce used to the Soviet retail system

Ranking of Sustainability Indicators for Assessment of the New Housing Development Projects: Case of the Baltic States

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura Tupenaite

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Sustainable development is inconceivable without healthy real estate market. A housing project can be regarded as sustainable only when all the dimensions of sustainability (environmental, economic, and social are dealt with. There has been an increased interest in using sustainability indicators for evaluating the impacts of the new development projects. Although international literature is rich in sustainability assessments, there are no tools developed for assessment of new residential projects in the specific context of the Baltic States. Therefore, the aim of this article is to fill this gap and to propose an integrated, hierarchically structured system of sustainability indicators to be used for assessment of the new housing development projects. This aim is achieved through accomplishing three objectives. First, based on a review of literature related to assessing building project performance and sustainable development in construction, the paper proposes an original hierarchically structured system of sustainability indicators suitable for the Baltic context. Second, based on a survey of experts, significances of criteria are estimated by the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP method. Finally, paper proposes recommendations to government authorities and real estate developers as to how to enhance the performance of new residential projects according to the principles of sustainability.

Environmental monitoring and information systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gibbert, R.

1998-01-01

Environmental monitoring and information systems installed by Dornier are summarized. A broad spectrum of environmental areas from air quality and water to radioactivity is covered. Nuclear power plant monitoring systems, either as remote or plant-internal monitoring systems, form an important element of the work undertaken. The systems delivered covered local, regional or national areas. The range of services provided, and hardware and software platforms are listed. (R.P.)

Resolving early Mid-Ordovician (Kundan) bioevents in the East Baltic based on brachiopods

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Christian Mac Ørum; Harper, David Alexander Taylor

2008-01-01

Bed-by-bed sampling of brachiopods from selected Kundan Stage localities in the East Baltic has permitted the construction of a-diversity curves, unprecedented in detail from this particular stage and region. These a-diversity curves can be correlated between the investigated sections, along...... an east to west transect of some 200 km and indicate bioevents associated with intervals of increased palaeo-water depth. The highest peaks in a-diversity occur when biofacies analysis and sedimentological evidence indicate drowning events. The events involve mainly taxa endemic to the Baltic province...

National innovation system dynamics in East Central Europe, the Baltic Countries and Russia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Makkonen, Teemu

2014-01-01

Here, the structure and dynamics of national innovation systems are explored to produce a comprehensive picture of the current, as well as the past, performance of the countries of East Central Europe, the Baltic Countries and Russia vis-à-vis their competiveness and innovative capability....... The results highlight the importance of political and economic freedom, science and education for promoting innovation. According to the principal component analyses, the best performing countries, in terms of their national innovation systems, of the East Central Europe and the Baltic Countries have...

Matrilinear phylogeography of Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar L.) in Europe and postglacial colonization of the Baltic Sea area

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nilsson, J.; Gross, R.; Asplund, T.

2001-01-01

was analysed by RFLP of ND3/4/5/6. Representative RFLP haplotypes from different parts of the distribution area were sequenced and the phylogeny of European haplotypes and their relations to the North American lineage was described. The four common European haplotypes derive from the ancestral ND1-BBBA...... (rooting the European clade to the North American) by one-step substitutions: AAAA BBBB. The Swedish west- coast populations differ from the geographically close southern Baltic, indicating absence of inward and limited outward gene flow through the Danish straits during the last 8000 years....... Within the Baltic Sea, only three ND1 haplotypes were detected and there was no variation for ND3/4/5/6. In the whole southern Baltic and in lakes Vanern, Ladoga and Onega the haplotype AABA dominated. Proposed postglacial colonization routes to the Baltic Sea are discussed in relation to the haplotype...

Contamination of harbor sediments in the eastern Gulf of Finland (Neva Bay), Baltic Sea

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ussenkov, S.M. [Dept. of Lithology and Marine Geology, Faculty of Geology, St. Petersburg State Univ. (Russian Federation)

1997-11-01

The areal distribution of oil products and various trace metals have been studied in bottom surface deposits from the harbors of Neva Bay. The data of contents were normalized to natural background concentrations. Also the size and biomass of benthos groups were analyzed. The results show clearly that industrial discharges have elevated levels of contamination in the sediments. Few efficient measures against environmental contamination have been taken. The sediments contain very high concentrations of oil products and such heavy metals as Hg, Pb, Cu, and Zn. The benthic organisms most sensitive to heavy metal contamination are Chironomidae. The dredging and dumping of the contaminated deposits can lead to secondary contamination of the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic proper. (orig.)

How strategic environmental assessment can inform lenders about potential environmental risks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Banhalmi-Zakar, Zsuzsa; Larsen, Sanne Vammen

2015-01-01

at a time when it can be used as an input to bank lending decisions, which can assist banks in making lending decisions with better environmental outcomes. For these reasons, we argue that in some circumstances, and particularly for project finance transactions, SEA may be a more useful environmental......In this paper, we explore the potential for strategic environmental assessment (SEA) to be a useful tool for banks to manage environmental risks and inform lending decisions. SEA is an environmental assessment tool that was developed to assist strategic-level decision-makers, such as policy...

Review of western Baltic cod (Gadus morhua) recruitment dynamics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hüssy, Karin

2011-01-01

Important processes in the recruitment dynamics of western Baltic cod (Gadus morhua) are identified. Spawning areas are in the deep, saline waters below 20–40 m, depending on area topography. Spatial distribution remains relatively stable over time. Peak spawning shows an area-specific pattern...

Baltic Storm'i tagasihoidlik edu / Jürgen-Friedrich Laulik

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Laulik, Jürgen-Friedrich

2003-01-01

Saksa ajakirjanduse vastukajasid Berliinis esilinastunud poliitilisele põnevusfilmile "Balti torm" ("Baltic Storm"), mis kujutab parvlaev "Estonia" hukku. Režissöör ja üks stsenariste on Reuben Leder, peaosades Greta Scacchi ja Jürgen Prochnow. Kaasa teeb ka Donald Sutherland USA kindrali rollis

Microplastics in the Baltic Sea water: fibers everywhere.

Science.gov (United States)

Khatmullina, Lilia; Bagaev, Andrey; Chubarenko, Irina

2017-04-01

Presence of thin synthetic fibres (microfibres, tens of micrometres in diameter) in the surface waters and sediments is documented in different studies; however, the data on their exact abundances in the marine environment are commonly not presented owing to the shortcomings of the sampling procedure and general absence of well-established methodology for microplastics data collection. Nevertheless, we made an attempt to qualitatively analyse the amounts of microplastic fibres in the water column of the Baltic Sea. Water samples acquired during 6 cruises over the Baltic Sea Proper in 2015-2016 were filtered using 174 μm filters, which were subsequently analysed by microscope. From the total of 95 examined filters, 63% contained fibres. They were identified by colour and the reaction to the mechanical action of a thin needle: justification of anthropogenic origin was considered to be enough; any questionable objects were discarded. Fibres comprise more than 90% of the whole microplastic particles found in the near-bottom layers in the coastal zone and around 24% of microplastics in the surface and intermediate waters, with mean concentrations of 0.71 and 0.07 fibres per litre, respectively. Although the methodology still requires a lot of enhancement, even the preliminary results indicate ubiquitous distribution of the microfibres in the water column of the Baltic Sea with surface and bottom layers revealing higher abundances of microfibres in comparison with intermediate layers, and open-sea waters being less contaminated than the coastal ones. Apart from enhancing the sampling technics, we consider that it is crucial to understand principal physical features of fibers behavior in the marine environment (e.g., settling, entrainment by currents), as it would provide an opportunity to parameterize their transport and further on to model distribution of fibers in the water column. The research is supported by the Russian Science Foundation grant number 15-17-10020.

A 35-year hindcast for the Baltic Sea (1980-2014) - a statistical analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Gräwe, Ulf; Holtermann, Peter

2015-04-01

The Baltic Sea is a semi-enclosed sea with limited water exchange. The most important process that leads to deep water renewal of the Baltic Sea are inflows of dense, saline North Sea water. These water masses have to pass narrow channels and sills in the Danish Straits and three basins with increasing depth. Along this path, the inflowing gravity currents are subject to entrainment, vertical and horizontal mixing. Thus, physical and numerical mixing are crucial for the proper propagation of these inflows. Additionally, a permanent halocline and a summer thermocline are challenging for state of the art ocean models. Moreover, Holtermann et al (2014) could show, that boundary mixing in the deep basins dominates the vertical mixing of tracers. To tackle these challenges, we used the General Estuarine Transport Model (GETM) to give a state estimate for the Baltic Sea for the period 1980-2014. The setup has a horizontal resolution of 1 nm. In the vertical, terain following coordinates are used. A special feature of GETM is that it can run with vertical adaptive coordinates. Here we use an adaptation towards stratification. The minimum layer thickness is limited to 30 cm. We also include the effects of wind waves (by radiation stresses, and changes in the bottom stresses) into our simulations. The atmospheric forcing is taken from the global reanalysis of the NCEP-CFSR (Saha et al 2011) with a spatial resolution of 30 km and hourly values. The model validation at selected stations in the Baltic Sea shows an average Bias of ±0.15 psu and a RMSE of 0.4 psu. These values are similar to the data assimilation runs of Fu et al (2011) or Liu et al (2013). However, one has to note that our simulations are free runs without any nudging or data assimilation. Driven by the good performance of the model, we use the model output to provide a state estimate of the actual climate period (1980-2010). The analysis includes a quantification and estimation of: surge levels with a 30-year

Environmental information in Colombia; La informacion ambiental en Colombia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Velez S, Andres

2005-07-01

This article is a chapter from the paper, Elements for the description of an environmental information system, which was written by the author as a requirement for the degree of specialist on environment and Geoinformatics at the school of engineering. Universidad de Antioquia. The original paper attempted a description of the context and development of a particular environmental information system, built at the eastern region of Antioquia by CORNARE (a regional autonomous corporation for the environment and the natural resources). This article refers to the Colombian institutional context for environmental information. With particular emphasis laid on the strategic character that must be conceded to the administration of information. Towards the construction of equitable and sustainable development models under autonomous orientation an efficient and transparent environmental administration as is needed by such models is only attainable through the design and application of environmental information systems committed to the pursuit of collective interests. Here a balance is sought between accomplishments and failures reached during the long standing discussion held in Colombia around the formulation of public policies that acknowledge and strengthen the role of information as a cornerstone of environmental administration, and a contribution towards the goal of human sustainable development.

Slave to the rhythm: seasonal signals in otolith microchemistry reveal age of eastern Baltic cod (Gadus morhua)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hüssy, Karin; Gröger, J.; Heidemann, F.

2016-01-01

Annual growth zones in cod otoliths from the eastern Baltic stock are less discrete than in other cod stocks leading to biased age reading, which recently led to a failure of age-based assessment in the eastern Baltic cod stock. In this study, we explored the applicability of minor and trace elem...

Estimation of grey seal (Halichoerus grypus diet composition in the Baltic Sea

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Karl Lundström

2007-01-01

Full Text Available We examined the digestive tract contents from 145 grey seals (Halichoerus grypus collected between 2001 and 2004 in the Baltic Sea. We compensated for biases introduced by erosion of otoliths, both by using additional hard-part structures other than otoliths, and species-specific size and numerical correction factors. In the absence of numerical correction factors based on feeding experiments for some species, we used correction factors based on a relationship between otolith recoveryrate and otolith width. A total of 24 prey taxa were identified but only a few species contributed substantially to the diet. The estimated diet composition was, independently of the prey number estimation method and diet composition estimation model used, dominated by herring (Clupea harengus, both by numbers and biomass. In addition to herring, common whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus and sprat (Sprattus sprattus were important prey, but cyprinids (Cyprinidae, eelpout (Zoarces viviparus, flounder (Platichtys flesus and salmon (Salmo salar also contributed significantly. Our results indicated dietary differences between grey seals of different age as well as between seals from the northern (Gulf of Bothnia and the southern (Baltic Proper Baltic Sea.

Integrated environmental monitoring and information system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klinda, J.; Lieskovska, Z.

1998-01-01

The concept of the environmental monitoring within the territory of the Slovak Republic and the concept of the integrated environmental information system of the Slovak Republic were accepted and confirmed by the Government Order No. 449/1992. The state monitoring system covering the whole territory of Slovakia is the most important and consists of 13 Partial Monitoring Systems (PMSs). List of PMSs is included. The listed PMSs are managed according to the concept of the Sectoral Information System (SIS) of the Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic (MESR) which was established by the National Council Act No. 261/1995 Coll. on the SIS. The SIS consists of 18 subsystems which are listed. The overviews of budget of PMSs as well as of environmental publications and periodicals of the MESR are included

Essential coastal habitats for fish in the Baltic Sea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kraufvelin, Patrik; Pekcan-Hekim, Zeynep; Bergström, Ulf

2018-01-01

Many coastal and offshore fish species are highly dependent on specific habitat types for population maintenance. In the Baltic Sea, shallow productive habitats in the coastal zone such as wetlands, vegetated flads/lagoons and sheltered bays as well as more exposed rocky and sandy areas are utili...

Analysis of runoff for the Baltic basin with an integrated Atmospheric-Ocean-Hydrology Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K.-G. Richter

2006-01-01

Full Text Available A fully integrated Atmospheric-Ocean-Hydrology Model (BALTIMOS = Baltic Integrated Model System has been developed using existing model components. Experiment and model design has been adapted to the Baltic basin with a catchment area of approximately 1 750 000 km2. A comprehensive model validation has been completed using large meteorological and hydrological measurement database. Comparing the calculated runoff from the integrated and non-integrated model system with measurements for three different representative subbasins and the entire Baltic basin, the effect of the integrated model is described. The results display a good agreement between measured and calculated runoff. The effect of the integrated model is rather negligible looking at computed mean values: There is no significant difference between mean monthly runoff of the integrated and non-integrated model during the year with the exception of spring. There is a delay of one month with regard to peak runoff for the non-integrated model in spring caused by different interactive processes during the melting period.

Stable isotope evidence for late medieval (14th-15th C origins of the eastern Baltic cod (Gadus morhua fishery.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David C Orton

Full Text Available Although recent historical ecology studies have extended quantitative knowledge of eastern Baltic cod (Gadus morhua exploitation back as far as the 16th century, the historical origin of the modern fishery remains obscure. Widespread archaeological evidence for cod consumption around the eastern Baltic littoral emerges around the 13th century, three centuries before systematic documentation, but it is not clear whether this represents (1 development of a substantial eastern Baltic cod fishery, or (2 large-scale importation of preserved cod from elsewhere. To distinguish between these hypotheses we use stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis to determine likely catch regions of 74 cod vertebrae and cleithra from 19 Baltic archaeological sites dated from the 8th to the 16th centuries. δ(13C and δ(15N signatures for six possible catch regions were established using a larger sample of archaeological cod cranial bones (n = 249. The data strongly support the second hypothesis, revealing widespread importation of cod during the 13th to 14th centuries, most of it probably from Arctic Norway. By the 15th century, however, eastern Baltic cod dominate within our sample, indicating the development of a substantial late medieval fishery. Potential human impact on cod stocks in the eastern Baltic must thus be taken into account for at least the last 600 years.

Projected future climate change and Baltic Sea ecosystem management.

Science.gov (United States)

Andersson, Agneta; Meier, H E Markus; Ripszam, Matyas; Rowe, Owen; Wikner, Johan; Haglund, Peter; Eilola, Kari; Legrand, Catherine; Figueroa, Daniela; Paczkowska, Joanna; Lindehoff, Elin; Tysklind, Mats; Elmgren, Ragnar