InTheNews.co.uk
Breaking News:
Your source for news

News Story

 20 July 2008 08:23 BST

Europe's seas in 'serious decline'

Friday, 08 Jun 2007 10:11
Europe's regional seas are being harmed by pollution and fishing
Europe's four regional seas are in a serious state of decline, a new study has warned today.

The EU-funded project, European Lifestyles and Marine Ecosystems (ELME), says that urgent action is needed to prevent further damage from current and emerging patterns of development.

More than 100 scientists from 15 countries participated in the analysis of Europe's regional seas: Baltic Sea; Black Sea; Mediterranean Sea; and North-East Atlantic.

They studied environmental issues including habitat change, eutrophication (over-fertilisation of the sea), chemical pollution and fishing.

Eutrophication was found to be a severe problem for the most enclosed seas (Baltic Sea, Black Sea and the Adriatic within the Mediterranean), in part due to a legacy of past phosphate and nitrogen loads.

How each sea will fare in the future depends on the economic options pursued by European nations, the transport of goods and the European regulatory framework, the report concludes.

Project coordinator Professor Laurence Mee, director of the Marine Institute at the University of Plymouth, said: "Europeans are just beginning to wake up to the fact that the area of their seas is bigger than the land and that it is already seriously degraded.

"In every sea, we found serious damage related to the accelerated pace of coastal development, the way we transport our goods and the way we produce our food on land as well as the sea.

He added: "Without a concerted effort to integrate protection of the sea into Europe's development plans, its biodiversity and resources will be lost."
End of story


More headline news... 

Also In The News 

© 2008 Advertise | Privacy | Terms of Use