Introduction. Special problems of the Baltic Sea.

The Baltic Sea is considered one of the seas whose ecological condition is especially deplorable. It suffers from eutrophication, pollution by various toxic substances, and a number of species of organisms are under threat of extinction. Pollution comes from several sources: land-based economic activities, marine vessels and seabed mining. There is also the danger of overfishing. Due to the physical and geographical features of the Baltic Sea, as well as the high population density and developed industry, special problems arise in the countries surrounding the sea. Special problems of the Baltic Sea include: the fairly widespread distribution of nuclear power plants along the Baltic coast, the presence of chemical weapons dumps at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, the presence of many invasive species, etc. This article will discuss the main problems of the Baltic Sea, the measures that the countries of the Baltic region are taking to reduce the negative impact on the environment and future prospects.

Eutrophication of the Baltic Sea

Eutrophication of waters is the accumulation of nutrients in waters under the influence of anthropogenic or natural factors.

Eutrophication causes enormous changes in aquatic ecosystems and causes deterioration in water quality, leading, for example, to oxygen deficiency and fish kills.

The main influencing nutrients are nitrogen( N ) and phosphorus (P ). External inputs of phosphorus and nitrogen into the Baltic Sea, including inputs from the Danish Straits and Kattegat, are estimated at 53,000 tons P and 1,060,000 tons N in year. Approximately 50% of nitrogen comes from the atmosphere, including through nitrogen fixation. Phosphorus is brought mainly from land - 90%. The greatest increase in the supply of nitrogen and phosphorus most likely occurred after 1950.

Large inputs of nutrients from year to year have led to an increase in the concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus in all areas of the Baltic Sea.The regional pattern of nutrient input is determined by inputs from external sources, exchange between different basins and retention of nutrients in them. Since most of the nutrients are brought to the sea from the ears, concentrations in coastal waters are higher than in the open sea. This means that biological changes caused by eutrophication may be more pronounced in the coastal zone than in open sea areas.

Fig.1 Change in concentrations (μmol) of nutrients over time in different areas Baltic Sea ( Elmgren, 1989).

The main changes observed primarily in coastal waters:

Increase in primary production

Increased phytoplankton blooms

Increased chlorophyll-a concentration

Increased sedimentation of organic matter to the bottom

Increase in macrobenthos biomass above the halocline

Increased frequency and magnitude of oxygen deficiency in bottom waters

Reduced water clarity

Reducing the depth of growth of fucus algae

Decrease in macrobenthos biomass under the halocline, etc.

The scale of anthropogenic impacts in XX century is characterized by the following data:

Fig.2 Baltic Sea during algae bloom. Satellite image NASAin natural colors.

One of the manifestations of eutrophication is a phytoplankton bloom, in which the massive development of microscopic algae in large areas of water causes a significant decrease in water transparency and sometimes leads to the appearance of films and odors. Film-forming algae are blue-green algae, which, with the help of gas vacuoles that increase buoyancy, easily float to the surface of the water. These days, blue-green algae blooms are covering large areas of the Baltic, as evidenced by satellite observations. Some types of blue-green algae blooms can be toxic to animals. For example, Nodularia spumigena produces a peptide ( chemical compound, consisting of amino acids), which can cause degeneration of liver cells, the appearance of tumors and death from hemorrhage in the liver. People are blooming Nodularia Causes stomach upset, headaches, eczema and eye inflammation. In the Kattegat and other more saline areas of the Baltic Sea, extensive blooms of other toxic algae were observed in the 1980s: some species of dinoflagellates, golden algae and calcareous algae. During several blooms, the death of pelagic organisms, as well as benthic flora and fauna, was observed.

Also, according to observational data in lakes, it can be concluded that eutrophication of the Baltic Sea may cause changes in fish populations.

Main sources of nutrients: sewage from coastal cities, transport (exhaust fumes), burning of fossil fuels for energy and agriculture.

Industrial pollution in the Baltic region

A huge amount of a wide variety of substances enters the Baltic Sea every day. They arise from point sources on land or at sea (industrial plants, power plants, waste disposal sites, wastewater treatment plants) and from diffuse sources through river and surface runoff (e.g. agricultural pollution, household waste, transport). In addition, pollutants are transported by air into the Baltic region from the British Isles, Central and Eastern Europe and even further afield.

IN different parts The Baltic region has different industrial specializations. The development of industry was determined by the availability of natural raw materials. In Sweden and Finland the main industries industrial production are metalworking and the production of pulp and paper; in Denmark, the food industry dominates; a variety of industries are developed in Germany. All these countries have the most modern enterprises. Advanced technologies have made it possible to significantly reduce emissions from major industries over the past 20-25 years. However, due to the extremely large volumes and variety of products consumed, problems associated with the diffuse influence of industrial products remain unresolved. At the same time, in Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, many enterprises are technically outdated and require reconstruction in order to meet modern environmental standards. There are also problems with waste recycling. A huge amount of pollution is carried with river flow into the Baltic Sea, since wastewater from cities and villages, as well as wastewater from enterprises, is poorly treated or not treated at all.

Table 1. Main pollutants generated during industrial production

Table 1 lists the main industries that are particularly important in terms of environmental pollution. Pulp, paper and metallurgical enterprises make a particularly significant contribution to pollution in the northern regions of the Baltic Sea.

Pollutants contained in discharges and emissions of ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy enterprises contain:

• Heavy metals (arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, mercury, etc.)
• Waste gases, including dioxins, from steel mills and non-ferrous metallurgy plants
• Sulfur from smelters
• Persistent organic substances such as PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons)
• Oils used in various processing processes
• Biogens
• Oxides of sulfur and nitrogen and other chemical compounds.

There is also oil pollution. Petroleum hydrocarbons enter the Baltic Sea from many sources, in particular with river and surface runoff, as a result of direct discharges from cities and enterprises. Other important sources are oil tanker clean-ups and other intentional discharges from ships, as well as oil spills from accidents (tanker groundings, accidental releases from onshore oil storage facilities). A new source that could prove very dangerous in the Baltic region is oil losses during exploration and operation of coastal platforms.

Transport of pollutants by water.Most toxic pollutants are slightly soluble in water but soluble in fats and fat solvents such as oils, ether, etc. Plants and animals are composed partly of fat and are therefore capable of trapping many toxicants. Some of these toxicants are retained in skeletal remains, feces, leaves, etc. in lakes and rivers. Such particles can float in water and be deposited in bottom sediments. All natural bodies of water contain biologically created substances consisting of water-soluble and fat-soluble parts, for example fatty acids. The molecules of such substances concentrate at the boundary of water and air, with the water-soluble part located in the air. In this case, a thin film of fat forms on the surface of the water. In this film, fat-soluble substances will accumulate, reaching high concentrations. For example, the concentration of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) in such a film can be 1000 times higher than their concentration in the water column, even if the total content of pollutants in the film is low.

Four main components with different concentrations of pollutants can be found in a reservoir:

• Water
• Organisms and suspended organic matter
• Precipitation
• Surface film

Most hazardous environmental pollutants are very chemically stable. Persistent feed contaminants are often not biodegradable. Consequently, the load on a living organism from such pollutants will gradually increase as the individual grows older. This increase in pollutants with age is called accumulation or bioaccumulation. Transfer from one species to another involves transfer from one trophic level to another. At the same time, the concentrations of toxicants at each successive level increase. This phenomenon is called biomagnification. The following general rule can be formulated: in terrestrial trophic networks, at each step there is an increase of 10 times, in aquatic ones - by 3-5 times. Another way of transmitting pollutants is from mother to child - through the absorption of food. Milk contains fat: for example, women's milk - 3-4%, seal milk - 30%.

The most detrimental non-lethal effects of current pollutants are reduced plant productivity and impairment of muscle, nervous, immune and reproductive functions in animals. Some effects of pollution can threaten the survival of an entire population. For example, the population of Baltic seals and some bird species is in great danger due to poor reproduction. Impacts on entire ecosystems include reduced species diversity and overall biomass. Current concentrations of environmental pollutants in the Baltic region are already attracting attention due to the possible danger to humans. Bans and restrictions imposed by authorities in various countries located on the shores of the Baltic have reduced the concentrations of some pollutants (for example, lead), but the current state of the Baltic certainly requires additional measures.

Invasive species

Recently, the problem of invasive species migrating into a new habitat has become more and more acute. The main reason for what is happening is human activity. For example, species move en masse with the ballast waters of ships and on their hulls. In general, there are about 150 invasive species in the seas of Russia.

Young in geological terms, the Baltic Sea is considered one of the most sensitive bodies of water in the world to biological invasions. This fully applies to the Russian waters of the Gulf of Finland, where invaders make up about 5% of total number species and often dominate communities. However, most alien species come from the warm-water Ponto-Caspian basin, and their distribution is predominantly limited to well-warmed surface waters above the summer thermocline. In benthic communities, noticeable changes, accordingly, took place in relatively small coastal communities, where the share of alien organisms in the total The benthos biomass at individual stations could reach 96%.Polychaetes of the genus Marenzelleria are one of the most successful invaders in the Baltic Sea. Having first appeared in 1985, they quickly colonized the entire Baltic, where they are currently represented by three closely related species. They have been known in the Russian waters of the Gulf of Finland since 1996. Until 2009, the introduction of polychaetes (defined as Marenzelleria neglecta) into the Gulf of Finland was not accompanied by significant changes in bottom communities. High biomass of M. neglecta was observed only in limited areas of shallow water above the summer thermocline. In 2009, polychaetes occupied deep-sea areas, which is associated with the invasion of an Arctic representative of the genus, Marenzelleria arctia, new to the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland. The massive development of this species has led to a manifold increase in the biomass of macrozoobenthos. The role of polychaetes was especially significant in areas of the bottom periodically exposed to hypoxia, where macrozoobenthos was previously absent or was extremely poor. As a result of the invasion, most of the bay's water area was populated by an almost monoculture of polychaetes. M. Arctia are characterized by significant bioturbation and bioirrigation activity, and their introduction has led to the emergence of a new functional group benthos. Apparently, the polychaete invasion, due to its significant impact on biogeochemical processes and trophic relationships in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland, will in the coming years lead to a radical restructuring on the scale of the entire ecosystem.

Another example of invasion is the introduction of the round goby into the Baltic Sea. The round goby (neogobius melanostumus) is a brackish-water species that lives in the Azov, Black, Caspian and Marmara seas. It should be noted that it is highly adaptable to temperature changes and changes in salinity. In addition to sea waters, this species inhabits estuaries and many lower reaches of rivers in the Azov-Black Sea basin. The round goby forms the most numerous populations of all gobies in our southern seas. In the Sea of ​​Azov it is one of the important commercial species and accounts for 90% of the total goby catch. The first information about the capture of this species in the Baltic Sea was published by the Gdańsk Fisheries University in 1990. Some round timber specimens were caught in the Hel Spit area (Poland). Later, the bull began to be caught on the coast of the Gulf of Gdansk, in the area of ​​​​fishing villages: Kuznika, Swarzewo, Oslonino, Gdynia-Oslowo, Mechelinki.

Presumably, the round goby could have entered the Gulf of Gdansk with the ballast waters of ships whose route ran from the Caspian and Black Seas to the Baltic.

The round goby not only moved into the Baltic Sea, but also adapted perfectly. This is evidenced by the fact that in terms of average length and body weight, three-year-old individuals are ahead of their Azov counterparts by 2.5-3 centimeters, and in weight - up to 30 grams. Apparently this is explained by the transition of fish in the Baltic Sea to a more high-calorie food source.

So, the round goby as an invasive species is characterized by high survival and plasticity. It not only perfectly acclimatized to new conditions, but also began to successfully compete with other fish species, which can change their food supply and territory.

There is no noticeable impact of the species on aquatic ecosystems yet, but the increase in the number of round timber in geometric progression could lead to significant changes in Baltic ecosystems. Already, the number of sculpin goby and European eelpout in the sea has sharply decreased, and in the Primorskaya Bay and the Vistula Lagoon the number of ruffe has noticeably decreased. All this can lead to a change in the indigenous composition of the ichthyofauna of the region, as it has a significant impact on the structure of coastal ecosystems.

Buried chemical weapons in the Baltic Sea

Observations, assessments and forecasts of the ecological state of the Baltic Sea in the burial places of captured German chemical weapons, as well as disposal methods contained in sunken chemical munitions, chemical warfare agents and their decomposition products are vitally important. important for 85 million people living in 9 countries on the shores of the Baltic Sea in close proximity to burial sites.

The burial of toxic substances in the Baltic significantly worsens the ecological state of the environment. Currently there is whole line alarming cases likely related to the release of toxic substances into water. Thus, the incidence of lung cancer among Swedish fishermen became more frequent, fish appeared, as a result of eating which people were poisoned, painful changes in some organs were noticed in some caught fish, and the population of the Baltic seal practically disappeared. Scientists have proven that the entry of very small amounts of toxic substances into the human body or other living organisms can lead to irreparable consequences. The work of the English geneticist Charlotte Auerbach showed that one or two molecules of mustard gas or lewisite that enter our body can knock down genetic code. Serious danger to human body Russian scientists also confirmed that a minimum amount of toxic substances got into it. The influence of toxic substances on the human genetic code can cause mutations in 2–3 generations. Ichthyologists claim that among fish the number of mutant fish has already increased significantly.

From time to time, articles appear in the press that say that, according to some scientists, all toxic substances resting on the bottom gradually dissolve in large volumes of water and will not have a serious impact on human life and the living world of the sea. You may not agree with such reasoning, because the examples given above indicate the opposite. It should be taken into account that the Baltic is a very stagnant body of water, since the water in it changes over the course of 25-27 years. A large mass of toxic substances lies at the bottom in the straits and the constant bottom current towards the Baltic carries them into the reservoir. In the Baltic itself, the current is organized along the coast counterclockwise at a speed of approximately 4 knots per day. In 2003, 21 cases of chemical weapons entering fishing nets were recorded in the Baltic Sea - all in the form of clumps and a total weight of approximately 1005 kg.

For the first time, they talked openly about the buried weapon 50 years after its burial, since all the data was classified. Russian scientists organized a scientific expedition to the Baltic, which discovered and mapped some chemical weapons burial sites, conducted underwater photography of these objects, and took water and soil samples. Based on the results of the expedition, a report was drawn up, with which many Western experts were familiarized. Work to identify burial sites was carried out by Poland, Germany and other Baltic countries. Possible solutions to this problem are currently being actively discussed. Offered various options: construction of sarcophagi over burials, raising ammunition from the bottom and others. But all these solutions are very expensive, and lifting weapons from the bottom is also a potentially dangerous procedure (rusted cases can break and cause leaks). So far this issue is only being discussed, but no real actions have been taken to solve the problem.

Actions aimed at improving the condition of the Baltic Sea

The countries located on the shores of the Baltic Sea are quite developed. Nowadays the issue of protecting and restoring the environment is increasingly being raised. International cooperation in the field of ecology is actively implemented in the Baltic region. Many conventions have been adopted to protect and improve the quality of the environment.

An important step in improving water quality in the Baltic Sea is the modernization and construction of modern treatment facilities. One example of international cooperation is the construction of the South-West Treatment Plant (SWTP) in St. Petersburg. Previously, St. Petersburg was one of the largest sources of pollution, including due to a poor wastewater treatment system. Now in St. Petersburg, up to 93% of household wastewater is treated (excluding suburbs, gardening, etc.).

St. Petersburg is divided into sewer zones. The largest sewage treatment plants in St. Petersburg are the Central Wastewater Treatment Plant on Bely Island, the Northern Wastewater Treatment Plant in Olgino and the South-Western Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Let's consider the operation scheme of the YuZOS. Bandwidth YuZOS - 330 thousand cubic meters per day. For comparison: 1.5 million cubic meters Central and 1.2 million cubic meters Northern. All city wastewater goes into the public sewer system. At treatment plants, wastewater goes through the stages of mechanical, biological and chemical cleaning, cleaning with ultraviolet light, then the quality of cleaning is checked and only after that the discharge into the Gulf of Finland occurs. St. Petersburg is the first metropolis in the world where the problem of recycling sewage sludge has been solved. Previously, sewage sludge was transported to specialized landfills, vast areas were occupied, the smell and harmful substances were released into the atmosphere, causing inconvenience and negatively affecting the ecology of the region. Now in the city on all three major treatment plants Sludge incineration plants are operating.

Fig. 3 Schematic diagram of the SWTP. 1 - grille; 2 - sand trap; 3 - sludge outlet; 4 - main pumping station; 5 - removal of excess sludge; 6 - primary settling tank; 7 - sludge outlet; 8 - air duct; 9 - aeration tanks; 10 - distribution bowl; 11 - sludge incineration plant and biomonitoring in the form of snails; 12 - secondary settling tank; 13 - contact tank; 14 - UV and biomonitoring clean water: fish and Australian crayfish; 15 - release into the bay

First, wastewater falls on large screens, where large debris is filtered out, and then enters the filtration zone, which includes small screens and sand traps. Next, the water enters the primary settling tank, where insoluble suspended particles of both organic and mineral origin are deposited. A round settling tank is a tank with a cut off conical bottom. A pipe is installed in the center of the sump, through which wastewater flows to the bottom of the sump. The sludge obtained from this settling tank is burned in the gas furnaces of the plant.

Fig.4 Primary settling tank

Then the water enters aeration tanks with activated sludge (a collection of bacteria and other microorganisms adapted to aerobic conditions and actively consuming nutrients). With the help of aerators, the water is saturated with oxygen.

Fig.5 Aero tanks with aerators

Then the mixture of sludge and water from the aeration tanks enters the secondary settling tank, where the sludge settles to the bottom of the settling tank, and the purified water passes through a special water outlet for ultraviolet filtration. After passing through all stages of purification, the water is monitored by living organisms (biomonitoring). Fish and crayfish respond to any changes in the quality of purified water. Crayfish respond best to water pollution. If toxic substances enter it, their heart rate increases. Sensors are attached to the shells of crayfish. The parameters from these sensors are sent to the monitors of the dispatch service.

As mentioned above, the sludge obtained from settling tanks is burned. Combustion is carried out in gas furnaces at temperatures above 800°C. The heat obtained from burning sludge is used for technological needs: heating buildings and generating electricity, which allows Vodokanal to save energy resources. At YuZOS, electricity generation reaches 30% of the total power consumption. Flue gases undergo three-stage cleaning. Large African snails serve as biomonitoring of gas purification.

Conclusion

There is a very powerful anthropogenic impact on the Baltic Sea. For a long time The state of the sea and the drainage basin only worsened and no measures were taken to reduce the negative impact on the environment. But now a number of actions are being taken to improve the condition of the Baltic Sea: modernizing equipment, using environmentally friendly fuels, improving the quality of wastewater treatment, recycling waste, etc. International conventions and agreements on the protection and restoration of the environment have also been signed. In the future, the legal framework should be improved: the introduction and adequate implementation of penalties, encouraging enterprises to switch to new, environmentally friendly equipment. It is equally important to pay attention to the environmental education of people.

Russian Journal of Biological Invasions, 2010 No. 4; Institute of Ecology and Evolution named after A.N. Severtsov Russian Academy of Sciences (http://www.sevin.ru/invasjour)

K. x. n. O. V. Mosin

first international competition Eco-legal international ABVGD-yka and the organizing committee awarded Mosin O.V. 2nd place for work on the ecology of the Baltic Sea.

ECOLOGICAL PROBLEMS OF THE BALTIC SEA

In ancient times, the Baltic Sea was known as the “Varangian Sea” - an inland marginal sea that juts deep into the mainland and belongs to the inland basin of the Atlantic Ocean.

The area of ​​the Baltic Sea is approximately 386 thousand square kilometers. Due to its large extent, individual areas of the Baltic Sea are located in different geographical and climatic zones. This, in turn, influences the oceanological processes occurring in the sea and its individual areas. Due to the influx of large amounts of river water and weak water exchange with the ocean, the Baltic Sea has low salinity: a liter of Baltic water contains from 4 to 11 grams of salts (the waters of the World Ocean contain up to 35 grams of salts).

The geographical location of the Baltic Sea, its shallowness and difficult water exchange with the North Sea are the main factors that play the most important role in the formation of the natural features of the Baltic Sea and determine its extremely low self-purification ability and sensitivity to anthropogenic impact, and the average time for complete replacement of water in it is about 30-50 years.

Rice. 1. The Baltic Sea and neighboring countries.

That is why for the 80 million people living on the shores of the Baltic, environmental issues are of paramount social and economic importance. Over the past 70 years, the environmental situation in the Baltic Sea has deteriorated greatly, and according to experts, if the same rate of pollution continues, within 10 years the water will no longer be used for food purposes, and the fauna risks disappearing forever.

The main environmental problem of the Baltic Sea is its pollution during the Second World War and the Cold War. After World War II, about 3 million tons of chemical weapons, which contained 14 toxic substances, were dumped into the Baltic Sea. According to experts' estimates At the bottom of the Baltic Sea there are 267 thousand tons of bombs, shells and mines, sunk after the end of World War II, inside of which there are more than 50 thousand tons of chemical warfare agents. For more than half a century, ammunition has been lying on the bottom of the Baltic Sea, creating a potentially dangerous threat to the environment and human health. Due to insufficient self-purification ability, hazardous substances from landfills and sewage basins end up in the Baltic Sea. In addition, several sunken Soviet nuclear submarines lie in the depths of the Baltic Sea. All this has led to the fact that the content of strontium and cesium in fish caught in the Baltic Sea is 5 times higher than the norm.

Figure 2. Locations of toxic hazardous waste in the Baltic.

Also, the cause of environmental deterioration was located near the coast, industrialized areas and densely populated countries. The strongest anthropogenic impact of humans creates the problem of rapid growth of algae - eutrophication. The main causes of eutrophication are phosphorus and nitrogen-containing waste from agriculture and fish farming that enter the Baltic with wastewater. Rapidly reproducing algae consume a lot of oxygen when they decay, as a result of which there is less and less oxygen at the bottom. One third of the Baltic Sea floor suffers from a serious lack of oxygen. The lack of oxygen, in turn, limits the growth and development of living creatures on the bottom, which ultimately destroys food for fish. As a result, biogenic organic substances are not completely processed and, with a lack of oxygen, decompose, releasing hydrogen sulfide, which is harmful to marine life. Now the concentration of hydrogen sulfide zones at the bottom of the largest depressions of the Baltic Sea - Bornholm, Gotland and Gdansk is so great that not a single living organism can exist there.

Figure 3. This image taken from a NASA space satellite shows that increased levels of blue-green algae and cyanobacteria are causing severe euthanization of the Baltic Sea.

Every year, extremely large quantities of oily waste and wastewater from domestic and industrial activities enter the Baltic. Thus, every year up to 600 thousand tons of oil, 4 thousand tons of copper, 4 thousand tons of lead, 50 tons of cadmium and 33 tons of mercury enter the Baltic. For a sea that is renewed through narrow straits, this amount of oil is enormous, as a result of which, off the coast of neighboring Sweden, the content of oil products in the water exceeds the norm ten times.

The unfavorable environmental situation in the Baltic is associated with the discharge of industrial waste from nine countries into its waters, as well as the presence of developed nuclear energy. The Baltic region is characterized by a complex radiation situation associated with the presence and operation of many nuclear and radiation hazardous enterprises and facilities. Thus, 12 Swedish, 4 Finnish and 19 German operating power units are located in the Baltic Sea, and the Leningrad NPP is located in the Gulf of Finland. In the areas where nuclear power plants are located, there are radioactive waste storage facilities, including regional ones. Nuclear submarines and land vessels are created, based and repaired on the coast, some of which are subject to disposal. But the most important source According to experts, the flow of artificial radionuclides into the Baltic Sea began as fallout after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in April 1986.

Among the long-lived radionuclides that entered the atmosphere during the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and reached the Baltic Sea by air transport, the main ones were two radioactive elements 134 Cs and 137 Cs. Based on an analysis of the distribution of radioactive cesium in the waters of the Baltic Sea, an estimate was made of the amount of 137 Cs that fell on the surface of the water area as a result of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in April 1986. The total content of 137 Cs in the Baltic Sea increased more than tenfold in 1986. One of the most polluted areas was the central part of the Gulf of Finland, including Koporskaya Bay. Here, in June 1986, the average level of 137 Cs increased 60 times compared to 1985, but by 1991 it decreased by half due to the powerful Neva river flows and the processes of deposition (sedimentation) and removal of radionuclides outside the region. Further measurements made it possible to trace the trend of decreasing concentrations of radioactive cesium in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland due to the influx of relatively clean river waters. At the same time, polluted water masses were moving westward. At the same time, there was an increase in the concentrations of radioactive cesium in the waters of the Baltic Sea.

Figure 4. Density of distribution of the radioactive cloud after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in April 1986.

Figure 5. Isotopic contents 90 Sr, 134 Cs and 137 Csin the waters of the Gulf of Finland (picture taken from the website http:// www. atomic- energy. ru/ files/ u3/02_2008_103_1 N. png)

Now the main potentially dangerous sources of man-made radionuclides entering the environment of the Baltic region are concentrated in the Leningrad region. But it is necessary to take into account that there are a number of objects outside the region’s borders that, in emergency situations, can have an impact on the radiation situation in the region as a whole. First of all, these facilities should include the Kola Nuclear Power Plant, as well as the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (Lithuania) and the Tver Nuclear Power Plant, the nuclear icebreaker fleet and facilities of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. Within the region under consideration there is a significant number of radiation-hazardous objects associated with the use of radionuclides and sources of ionizing radiation in nuclear energy, industry, medicine, shipbuilding, scientific research, etc. They are mainly concentrated in and near St. Petersburg.

The main environmental problems of the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Finland are related to the production and consumption of electricity, industry, agriculture, fisheries, transport, wastewater treatment, regional and urban planning.

The main source of pollution of the Baltic Sea water environment in the region is the city sewerage system, through which about 1,500 million cubic meters are annually discharged into the waters of the Neva River and Neva Bay. m of wastewater. Lake Ladoga, the Neva River and its tributaries, especially within St. Petersburg, experience significant pollution with oil products. Serious sources of pollution are enterprises and organizations involved in the transportation and disposal of petroleum products. The intensity of traffic of vessels with a carrying capacity of up to 5000 tons, transporting petroleum products, is 8-10 ships per day, and the annual turnover of petroleum products reaches 5 million tons. Many ships used for transhipment of petroleum products are outdated, have been used by Russia for more than 20 years or more, and do not meet the requirements of international environmental safety.

The development of transport infrastructure in the Baltic region, the construction of oil refineries, the active transportation of oil and petroleum products, and the growth in consumption levels significantly increase the threat destruction of natural complexes Baltic. Reducing this threat is only possible if there is a strong and consolidated position and joint actions of all environmental organizations in the region.

The Baltic Sea is a unique body of water that needs protection from destructive anthropogenic human activities, whose influence can manifest itself after decades.

The territory of the Baltic Sea basin unites countries that differ significantly in their economic status and cultural traditions. This diversity can be seen as a source of shared prosperity, but it also means that countries and even non-governmental organizations will have a difficult time finding common ground when choosing priorities to work together.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) welcomes Finland's European Union's Nordic Dimension initiative to resolve the current situation, but only on the condition that the state of the environment in the Baltic region becomes one of the main priorities of this initiative.

WWF Baltic Program joins forces WWF Russia, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Latvia and Poland, as well as the Estonian Nature Fund (Estonia) and the Baltic Nature Fund (Russia) to preserve the environment of the Baltic Sea as an integral part of the Northeast Atlantic ecoregion.

Within the framework of the Intergovernmental Agreement of the participating countries of the Helsinki Convention, extensive international cooperation has been launched between the Baltic countries on the problem of protecting the marine environment of the Baltic Sea, in particular on the constant control (monitoring) of radioactive pollution in the Baltic.

By 2021, a program is planned to reduce the content of nitrogen and phosphorus in the water of the Baltic Sea. In some affected regions of the sea, life has already been discovered - polychaetes. This variety of polychaete worms was good news for scientists. After all, this means that the lifeless sea is gradually beginning to come to life. The worms entered the Baltic Sea from the Atlantic, and the fact that they were discovered in the Gulf of Finland is doubly good news. The dead, oxygen-free areas of the Baltic are beginning to come to life, and if worms have appeared here today, then fish may soon appear, because the appearance of worms means that the necessary oxygen has finally begun to appear in the water, and the necessary food for fish is also appearing.

WWF Baltic Program aimed at development of integrated management of territories, coasts and water areas of the entire Baltic drainage basin and to expand the capabilities of local residents for the sustainable use of Baltic Sea resources.

Ph.D. O. V. Mosin

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"EC: The Helsinki Convention 1992 -Improving the Baltic Sea Environment," Reuter Textline, July 23, 1993.

"Ecofund to Finance New Projects," Business News From Poland, October 15, 1993.

"Estonia Agreement with Finland on Environmental Cooperation," BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 16 July 1993.

Kindler, Janusz, and Lintner, Stephen F. "An Action Plan to Clean Up the Baltic." Environment, October 1993.

Joenniemi, Pertti. "Cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region." Washington: Taylor & Francis, 1993.

"Official Analysis of the Belarusian Ecological Situation," BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, January 28, 1994.

"Polish Ecological Contrasts," Polish News Bulletin, December 3, 1993.

“Swedes Cooperate in Protection of Polish Environment," PAP News Wire, September 24, 1993.

Läänemeri ja tema arengulugu //Eesti Loodus/Koostanud A.Raukas. Tallinn, 1995, lk.218-243.With.584-585.

Baltic Sea(from antiquity until the 18th century in Russia it was known as the “Varangian Sea”) - an inland marginal sea protruding deeply into the mainland. The Baltic Sea is located in northern Europe and belongs to the Atlantic Ocean basin.

The northernmost point of the Baltic Sea is located near the Arctic Circle, the southernmost point is near the city of Wismar (Germany). The westernmost point is located in the area of ​​the city of Flensburg (Germany), the easternmost point is located in the St. Petersburg area. Due to the large elongation along the meridian and parallel, individual areas of the Baltic Sea are located in different physical-geographical and climatic zones. This, in turn, influences the oceanological processes occurring in the sea and its individual areas. Sea area: 415 thousand kilometers. Depth: average - 52 meters, maximum - 459 meters.

The Baltic Sea has three large bays: Bothnian, Finnish, Riga. About 250 rivers flow into it, including the Neva, Vistula, Neman, Daugava, and Oder.

The connection between the Baltic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean is carried out through the North Sea, the Skagerrak, Kattegat and Danish straits (Great and Little Belt, Öresund (Sund) and Fehmarn Belt), however, this connection is difficult due to the shallowness of the straits (depth at the rapids is 7- 18 meters). Therefore, the Baltic waters are very slowly renewed due to the cleaner Atlantic waters. The period of complete water renewal in the Baltic Sea is about 30-50 years.

In the Baltic Sea low salt content. Its waters are a mixture of salt water from the ocean and fresh water coming from numerous rivers. The degree of sea salinity in different places has different indicators from each other, which is due to the weak vertical movement of water layers. If in the southwestern part of the sea it is 8 ppm (i.e., every kilogram of water contains 8 g of salt), in the western part it is 11 ppm, then in the central water area it is 6 ppm, and in the Gulf of Finland, Riga and Bothnia it barely exceeds mark of 2-3 ppm (the average salinity of the World Ocean is 35 ppm).

Coastline length Baltic - 7 thousand kilometers. The coast is distributed between the countries as follows: Sweden owns 35% of the coast, Finland - 17%, Russia - about 7% (approximately 500 kilometers). The remaining part of the coast is shared by Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Germany, and Denmark. The sea coast and adjacent land areas are heavily populated and intensively used by humans. Transport complexes and large industrial enterprises are located on the coast. The Baltic Basin accounts for one tenth of global maritime trade.

Baltic Sea heavily polluted as a result of the active activities of people living on its banks. Environmental problems in the Baltic Sea are related to many aspects of society, such as energy production and consumption, industry, forestry, agriculture, fishing, tourism, transport, wastewater treatment.

The main environmental problems of the Baltic

Firstly, excess supply of nitrogen and phosphorus to the water area and as a result of being washed away from fertilized fields, with municipal wastewater from cities and waste from some enterprises. Since the water exchange of the Baltic is not very active, the concentration of nitrogen, phosphorus and other wastes in the water becomes very strong. Due to biogenic elements in the sea, organic substances are not completely processed, and due to a lack of oxygen, they begin to decompose, releasing hydrogen sulfide, which is harmful to marine life. At the bottom of the Gotland, Gdansk, and Bornholm depressions, dead hydrogen sulfide zones already exist.

The second significant problem of the Baltic is oil water pollution. Thousands of tons of oil enter the water area annually through various discharges. The film of oil that covers the surface of the water mirror does not allow oxygen to penetrate deeper. Toxic substances that are harmful to living organisms also accumulate on the surface of the water. Accidental oil spills in most cases occur in coastal and shelf zones, the most productive and at the same time vulnerable areas of the sea.

The third problem of the Baltic Sea is accumulation of heavy metals. Mercury, lead, copper, zinc, cobalt, and nickel enter mainly into the Baltic waters with precipitation, the rest ends up through direct discharge into the water area or with river runoff of household and industrial waste. The amount of copper entering the water area annually is about 4 thousand tons, lead - 3 thousand tons, cadmium - about 50 tons, and mercury - 33 tons, per 21 thousand cubic kilometers of water volume of the water area.

The Baltic Sea, due to its geographical position, has always been at the crossroads historical events. At the bottom of the Baltic there is more than one ship graveyard. Many sunken ships have dangerous goods. Containers containing cargo deteriorate over time.

Decades in the Baltic flooding was practiced and disposal of obsolete bombs, shells, and chemical munitions. After the end of World War II, by a joint decision of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition (USSR, Great Britain and the USA) and in accordance with the decision of the Potsdam Conference of 1951, over 300 thousand tons were sunk in various areas of the Baltic, as well as in the straits connecting the Baltic Sea with the North Sea German chemical weapons and ammunition.

For more than half a century, ammunition has been lying on the bottom of the Baltic, creating a potentially deadly threat. Metal in seawater is corroded by rust, and toxic substances can enter the water at any time.

The material was prepared based on information from open sources

The Baltic Sea is a water area protruding deeply into the mainland, belonging to the Atlantic Ocean basin and connected with the World Ocean only by narrow straits. Such seas, which are called internal or Mediterranean, are found in various climatic zones of the globe. For example, Black, Red, Mediterranean.
In terms of area (about 415 thousand km 2), the Baltic Sea is quite comparable with other inland waters, but in terms of the amount of water it contains (21 thousand km 3), it is small, and in relation to the Atlantic it can be considered negligible (Table 1 ). The average depth of the Baltic is 52 m, but about 17% of the water area is no deeper than 10 m. Water exchange with the World Ocean, carried out only through the narrow and shallow straits of Skagerrak and Kattegat (leading to the North Sea), is slow: complete renewal of water can occur on average in 30 -50 years. This semi-enclosed nature of the Baltic Sea makes it extremely sensitive to anthropogenic impacts.

Table 1

Main characteristics of the Baltic Sea
and some other bodies of water

* In brackets are countries whose small territory is part of the basin.

Almost all the oxygen necessary for the normal habitat of organisms in the deep part of the Baltic comes with the waters of the North Sea. This occurs irregularly, only under the influence of strong westerly winds. In general, during the 20th century there were about 90 intrusions of North Sea water, but, for example, in the period from 1983 to 1992 there was not a single one. The incoming waters are saltier and denser, so they sink downwards.

Then good conditions for the life of organisms are created in the lower layer. But when the penetration of North Sea waters into the Baltic slows down, all the oxygen available in the deep layers is gradually spent on the oxidation of organic substances. As a result, many deep areas the seas turn into areas practically devoid of life. And for quite long periods, the quality of water in the Baltic, especially in the upper layers of its thickness, and, consequently, the living conditions of organisms and the general condition of the water area are determined primarily by the purity of river flow - the main source of replenishment of the sea.
The Baltic Sea serves as a receiving basin for more than two hundred rivers (Table 2). More than half of the total area of ​​the Baltic Sea basin is drained by the largest rivers - Neva, Vistula, Western Dvina (Daugava), Neman (Nemunas), and it is into them that most of the pollutants generated as a result of anthropogenic activities in the territory fall.

table 2

Some characteristics of the largest rivers,
flowing into the Baltic Sea

Until about the middle of the twentieth century. the state of the Baltic Sea did not cause serious concern.
But already at the end of the 60s, due to the fact that the supply of pollutants exceeded the natural ability of the water area to purify itself, and as a result of overexploitation of resources, an environmental crisis broke out in the Baltic, and in 1973 the sea was declared an emergency area of ​​the World Ocean. Despite the development of environmental activities in the region, to date the overall environmental situation has not improved.

The number one environmental problem in today's Baltic is the excess supply of nitrogen and phosphorus into the water area as a result of washout from fertilized fields, with municipal wastewater from cities and waste from some enterprises. Because of these nutrients, the sea becomes “overfertilized”; organic substances are not completely processed and, with a lack of oxygen, begin to decompose, releasing hydrogen sulfide, which is harmful to marine life. Dead hydrogen sulfide zones already occupy the bottom of the largest depressions of the Baltic Sea - Bornholm, Gotland and Gdansk; in the 70s, hydrogen sulfide zones were also found in some depressions in the Gulf of Riga.
The second most important problem in the Baltic Sea is the accumulation of heavy metals - mercury, lead, copper, zinc, cadmium, cobalt, nickel. About half of the total mass of these metals ends up in the sea with precipitation, the rest - through direct discharge into the water area or with river runoff of household and industrial waste. The amount of copper entering the water area annually is about 4 thousand tons, lead - 3 thousand tons, cadmium - about 50 tons, and mercury - “only” 33 tons. For 21 thousand km 3 of water volume of the water area, it would seem that A little. However, these metals, even in negligible concentrations, are extremely dangerous for humans and marine organisms.

The third most pressing problem in the Baltic is oil pollution, a long-time enemy of the sea. Up to 600 thousand tons of oil enter the water area annually with various discharges. Oil covers the surface of the water table with a film that does not allow oxygen to penetrate deeper. Substances that are toxic to living organisms accumulate. Accidental oil spills in most cases occur in coastal and shelf zones, the most productive and at the same time vulnerable areas of the sea.
The causes of environmental problems in the semi-enclosed Baltic waters should be sought on land, within the drainage basin.
The area of ​​the Baltic Sea basin is 4 times larger than the area of ​​the sea itself and amounts to 1.75 million km 2. It is a densely populated area with a high concentration of industry and intensive agriculture. The main industrial centers and agricultural areas are directly confined to the coastal zone, which further increases the anthropogenic load on the sea.
The Baltic region (the drainage basin of the Baltic Sea) includes 14 countries - Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Germany and Denmark. Nine of them (with the exception of Norway, Belarus, Ukraine, Slovakia and the Czech Republic) have direct access to the Baltic Sea, and the territories of five countries (Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland) lie entirely (or with very few exceptions) in the Baltic basin .

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Sweden, Russia, Poland and Finland together account for 4/5 of the entire basin area (24%, 19%, 18% and 18%, respectively). At the same time, only 2% of Russia’s territory belongs to the Baltic basin: this is its northwestern part (Leningrad, Pskov, Novgorod regions, approximately a third of the territory of Karelia and sectors in the Smolensk and Tver regions) and the Kaliningrad region. In contrast, Denmark, whose share of the region's area is only 2%, gives it 78% of its territory.
About 85 million people live in the Baltic region. The majority of the Baltic population (38 million people, or 45%) is in Poland. The Russian population makes up 12% of the region's inhabitants (this is 7% of the total population of Russia), while Sweden, which ranks first in terms of area, accounts for only 10%.
The population density in the basin as a whole is about 50 people/km2 (which is comparable to the world average - 45 people/km2 and higher than the European average - 32 people/km2), however, the indicators for parts of the basin located within different countries are vary greatly, ranging from 2 people/km 2 in Norway to 176 people/km 2 in the Czech Republic. After all, in Norway the Baltic basin includes uninhabited mountainous areas, and in the Czech Republic it includes the old-inhabited Ostrava-Karvinsky industrial region.

There are a number of large cities located within the Baltic Sea basin. These are the capitals of states (Stockholm, Helsinki, Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius, Warsaw, Copenhagen), and non-capital cities and ports, such as St. Petersburg, Klaipeda, Kaliningrad, Lviv, Krakow, the triple city of Gdynia-Sopot-Gdansk, Szczecin, Rostock, Kiel, etc. In the Russian Federation, the Baltic Sea basin includes the region with the highest level of urbanization within the country (Northwestern).
The Baltic Sea accounts for up to 10% of global maritime transport.
To assess the contribution of each country to the deterioration of the state of the sea, two types of anthropogenic impact are usually taken into account: area (dispersed) and point. The first is formed over the entire (or significant part) of the basin as a result of human activity and agriculture; At each point of the territory, pollution may be insignificant, but in the whole basin it accumulates a lot. The second is the generation of large cities and industrial facilities: here, in small areas (almost at points), large pollution can form.
The main indicators reflecting the intensity of diffuse (area) impact on the environment are, firstly, population density, and secondly, the structure of land use. Agricultural land, as well as areas occupied by construction and other technogenic zones (for example, mining), have a negative, destructive effect on the state of ecosystems. On the contrary, forests, swamps and reservoirs act as absorbers of pollutants, thereby performing a stabilizing function.
Calculated by experts intensity of diffuse anthropogenic impact on the Baltic basin, provided by each section of the territory of different countries in the basin. The group of countries where the intensity of diffuse anthropogenic loads is insignificant includes Norway, Finland, Sweden, Russia, Estonia, Latvia and Belarus. The highest intensity of diffuse impact on the Baltic is observed within Denmark. The point is that the land in this country is very heavily ploughed: almost every square kilometer of Danish territory is involved in the pollution of the basin and, consequently, the water area itself.
The sources of many environmental problems have specific geographic addresses. Therefore, when assessing the impact on the Baltic, not only dispersed, but also point anthropogenic loads are taken into account. Among the types of targeted anthropogenic impacts on the basin, it is first of all necessary to highlight the functioning of large cities with an extremely high concentration of population in a small area. The impact of large cities on the environment is expressed primarily in the discharge of industrial and domestic wastewater, which, depending on the distance of the city from the coast, ends up either in local watercourses or directly into the sea. In total, within the basin there are about 30 large cities with a population of more than 250 thousand people. Their total population exceeds 22 million people.

Among industrial effluents, the most dangerous are waste from energy enterprises, pulp and paper mills and fertilizer factories. In 1992, 132 were recorded in the Baltic Sea basin hot Spots, corresponding to the most significant sources of pollution. In 1998, this list was revised, and currently 85 points remain active.
Greatest intensity of point anthropogenic impact on the territory basin (on average from each area of ​​the territory) is observed in Russia and Poland. In the first, mainly due to the population of large cities, and in the second, rather due to the presence on its territory of a significant number of hot spots - large industrial enterprises. From the territories of Norway, Belarus and Slovakia, there is practically no point impact on the Baltic region.
Total intensity of anthropogenic impact each square kilometer of each of the countries included in the Baltic region is assessed by combining the intensity values ​​of diffuse and point impacts. The lowest intensity of anthropogenic load is observed in the Norwegian part of the basin (sparsely inhabited), and the highest in Denmark, where arable land occupies 61% of the territory. Intensive Danish agriculture results in large amounts of organic matter being washed off the fields into the sea.

The second country where every piece of territory has an intense impact on the state of the Baltic basin is Poland. Both area and point loads are large here. Poland has a high population, intensive agriculture with a high level of use of organic fertilizers, and a fairly developed and relatively “dirty” industry. The main industries of specialization include those that cause great damage to the environment - ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, production of nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers.

The group of countries whose territories intensively impact the basin includes the Czech Republic, Germany and Ukraine. Here, diffuse impacts play a decisive role (these countries have high population densities and a lot of arable land in those parts that belong to the Baltic basin). Lithuania, Slovakia and Belarus are characterized by a medium intensity of the total impact. The lowest intensity (in decreasing order) is observed in Latvia, Estonia, Russia, Sweden, Finland and Norway.
We emphasize, however, that the picture reflects only the specific level of impact of each country - the intensity of the impact on the state of the basin of each section of the territory. To get an overall picture gross anthropogenic impact each of the states of the Baltic Sea region per water area, an indicator characterizing the intensity of anthropogenic impact is multiplied by the share of each state in the total area of ​​the Baltic Sea basin. The larger the territory a state occupies in a basin, the higher – other things being equal – the higher its total impact. With this calculation, Poland, the main disturber of the balance of the Baltic ecosystem, emerges as the “leader” by a huge margin from all other countries.
Poland is followed by Denmark and Russia, then Sweden, Lithuania, Belarus and Germany. Finland, Estonia and Latvia pollute the Baltic little, and Norway, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, which enter the Baltic basin only in small parts of their territories, pollute almost nothing.

On some international rivers, situations sometimes arise when countries located upstream have little interest in the cleanliness of the river: they do not care that downstream countries suffer from pollution. On the shores of the Baltic Sea the situation is different: pollutants entering the sea move within the water area in different directions. This objectively encourages states located within the same sea basin to cooperate in order to improve the environmental situation throughout the region and requires a special set of measures and decisions, their close coordination at the international level.
The history of regional cooperation on marine problems dates back to the establishment in 1902 in Copenhagen of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, which began its activities precisely with the study of the Baltic. Cooperation in the Baltic Sea region is the most successful, if not the only one positive example initiatives that are currently being implemented in the field of environmental protection of water areas.
The most important tool international regulation is Convention on Environmental Protection of the Baltic Sea (Helsinki Convention), signed by all countries of the basin (including the Soviet Union) in 1974. It arose as a response to the appeal to relevant problems at the UN Conference on the Environment, held in 1972 in Stockholm. Finland invited other countries in the region to develop a legal document on the protection of the Baltic Sea. At the time of its signing, the Helsinki Convention was probably one of the most comprehensive international environmental treaties. It included issues of pollution from land-based sources, emissions from ships and waste dumping, atmospheric pollution and pollution caused by the exploration and exploitation of seabed resources. The Convention came into force in 1980. To provide a legal basis for international cooperation, the Helsinki Commission (Helcom) was established.
According to the provisions of the Convention, countries that have signed it undertake to counter the discharge of atmospheric, water and other hazardous substances into the Baltic Sea. For this purpose, DDT, its derivatives, as well as other substances completely prohibited for use were included in the annex to the Convention (“black list”). In addition, countries commit to introducing strict pollution limits toxic substances and materials in accordance with the so-called “red list”, which contains mercury, cadmium and other metals (lead, nickel, copper, tin and zinc), arsenic, elemental phosphorus, phenols, cyanides, stable halogenated hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, stable pesticides, radioactive substances, oil, petrochemical waste, etc.

Detailed rules have been developed that must be followed to prevent pollution from ships - primarily this applies to oil, bulk chemicals, wastewater, garbage, and packaging materials made from harmful polymer compounds. According to the Convention, countries are also required to prohibit the dumping of waste in the Baltic, allowing only the controlled discharge of non-polluting waste rock. Measures must also be taken to prevent pollution of the marine environment due to exploration or exploitation of part of its seabed and soil. Cooperation is envisaged in combating oil spills and releases of hazardous substances. Scientific cooperation is underway to monitor and assess the state of the Baltic Sea environment.
Most Helcom decisions are made in the form of recommendations, which countries must implement through national legislation. No country can be forced to implement any decision, and therefore there is no mechanism for imposing sanctions in the event of non-compliance with recommendations.
In 1988, the Baltic environment ministers, recognizing the inadequacy of the existing pace of change in their countries, adopted a declaration in which they expressed their “firm commitment” to reduce emissions of the most harmful pollutants to the Baltic Sea ecosystems by 50% by 1995. Unfortunately, this goal was not implemented, but the 1974 Helsinki Convention still produced a number of positive results.
In 1992, a new Helsinki Convention was signed, revised in connection with political, economic and other changes in the region. The new convention extended its coverage to Belarus, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Norway (on whose territory a small part of the Baltic Sea basin is located). The Convention also contains detailed criteria and measures to prevent pollution from land-based sources. It introduces the principle of prevention and the “polluter pays” principle. The first means that preventive measures should be taken already when there is a possible risk of environmental pollution, and the second means that the costs of measures to prevent harm to the environment should be borne specifically by the one who creates the pollution, and not by the state or its inhabitants.
The Convention contains requirements for greater openness, access to information and measures to raise public awareness. Openness is emerging within countries and in relations between them, and trust in the information provided is growing.
Although the new Helsinki Convention has not yet entered into force, it is already influencing the work of Helcom and the nature of international cooperation in the region. To date, of all the states in the Baltic Sea basin, this treaty has not been ratified only by Poland, which creates the greatest anthropogenic load on the water area.

Regional agreements in the field of environmental protection of the Baltic Sea also include Convention on Fisheries and the Conservation of Living Resources of the Baltic Sea and Region
(Gdansk Convention, 1973). It came into force in 1974.
The Helsinki and Gdansk Conventions are the basis for international environmental cooperation in the Baltic Sea region. However, climate change, loss of biodiversity, ozone depletion, long-range transport of air pollutants in Europe, cross-border trade in chemicals and hazardous waste, pollution due to international shipping, and international trade also affect the Baltic ecosystems. Therefore, the problems of the Baltic basin must be considered in a broader, interregional and global context.
Using common regional interests and recognizing the need to protect the Baltic Sea, the Baltic states could form a strong unified group that would ensure that Baltic interests are taken into account when discussing and adopting action plans at the pan-European and global level. The better the interaction occurs on a global scale, the better results can be achieved in a particular region.

Not the entire volume of pollutants entering the Baltic Sea is a product of the activities of the states in its basin. A significant portion of pollution comes via atmospheric transport.

Tallinna Ehituskool

In Ecology on the topic:

Ecological problems

Baltic Sea

Dmitry Shimanov

Introduction

Humans are not the only creature susceptible to seasickness. When the sea becomes sick, many living things suffer. But in the end, we ourselves still suffer.

The Estonian Nature Foundation's marine program aims to help our unique Baltic Sea. The sea seems limitless and bottomless, and the amount of water in it is infinite. Yet it is abundantly clear that reckless human activity is having a detrimental effect on the health of the sea. The Baltic Sea, which washes the shores of Estonia, is considered today one of the most polluted seas in the world. This is facilitated by both slow water exchange and human activity: toxic substances discharged into water accumulate in the tissues of plants and animals and affect the health of marine organisms. Wastewater and chemicals carried by rivers into the sea lead to rapid growth of algae, causing oxygen to disappear from the deep layers of the sea, rapid overgrowth of coastal shallow waters and shallow bays, and bottom sediments turning into toxic mud. In addition, many other water properties change and spawning conditions worsen. One of the problems is the increasing volume of shipping in the Baltic Sea and the accompanying accidental oil spills.

Environmental problems of the Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea is a water area protruding deeply into the mainland, belonging to the Atlantic Ocean basin and connected to the World Ocean only by narrow straits. Such seas, which are called internal or Mediterranean, are found in various climatic zones of the globe.

Water exchange with the World Ocean, carried out only through the narrow and shallow straits of Skagerrak and Kattegat (leading to the North Sea), is slow: complete renewal of water can occur on average in 30-50 years. This semi-enclosed nature of the Baltic Sea makes it extremely sensitive to anthropogenic impacts. The Baltic Sea serves as a receiving basin for more than two hundred rivers. More than half total area The Baltic Sea basin is drained by the largest rivers - the Neva, Vistula, Western Dvina (Daugava), Neman (Nemunas), and it is into them that most of the pollutants generated as a result of anthropogenic activities in the territory fall. the flow of pollutants exceeded the natural ability of the water area to cleanse itself.

The number one environmental problem in today's Baltic is the excess supply of nitrogen and phosphorus into the water area as a result of washout from fertilized fields, with municipal wastewater from cities and waste from some enterprises. Because of these nutrients, the sea becomes “overfertilized”; organic substances are not completely processed and, with a lack of oxygen, begin to decompose, releasing hydrogen sulfide, which is harmful to marine life. Dead hydrogen sulfide zones already occupy the bottom of the largest depressions of the Baltic Sea - Bornholm, Gotland and Gdansk.

The second most important problem in the Baltic Sea is the accumulation of heavy metals - mercury, lead, copper, zinc, cadmium, cobalt, nickel. About half of the total mass of these metals ends up in the sea with precipitation, the rest - through direct discharge into the water area or with river runoff of household and industrial waste. The amount of copper entering the water area annually is about 4 thousand tons, lead - 3 thousand tons, cadmium - about 50 tons, and mercury - “only” 33 tons. For 21 thousand km3 of water volume of the water area, it would seem that there is little . However, these metals, even in negligible concentrations, are extremely dangerous for humans and marine life. organisms.

The third most pressing problem in the Baltic is oil pollution, a long-time enemy of the sea. With various discharges, up to 600 thousand tons of oil enter the water area annually. Oil covers the surface of the water surface with a film that does not allow oxygen to penetrate deeper. Substances that are toxic to living organisms accumulate. Accidental oil spills in most cases occur in coastal and shelf zones, the most productive and at the same time vulnerable areas of the sea.

All environmental problems of the Baltic Sea are determined by its pollution from many different sources through rivers, pipelines, landfills, operation of ships and, finally, from the air.

The public is increasingly concerned about the pollution of the Baltic waters, the main cause of which, as indicated, is oil spills in the waters of the Neva and Finnish bay.

The state of the Baltic Sea and especially the Gulf of Finland is causing widespread concern. The Gulf of Finland is one of the most polluted parts of the Baltic Sea. An excess of nutrients causes eutrophication of both the open sea and coastal zones. The number of toxic blue-green algae species, their blooms, water turbidity and pollution has increased coastline and fishing gear. In addition, the growing number of unwanted non-indigenous species threatens to damage and destroy the marine ecosystem.

In the future, mainly due to the rapid growth of transportation, there will be significant changes in the use of land and sea. Increases in land and sea transport and port operations will increase the pollution risk associated with the transport of petroleum products and chemicals.

Priorities:

Eutrophication, especially the contribution of agriculture;

Hazardous substances;

Ground transportation;

Maritime transport, including in the implementation of the Baltic Strategy;

Impacts on the environment in the process of fishing and the application of various practices;

Protection and conservation of marine and coastal biodiversity;

Implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Program of Environmental Activities in the Region Baltic Sea;

Marine scientific expedition – Gretagrund

The Government of the Republic of Estonia decided in 2010 to create the Gretagrund Marine Reserve to protect the unique habitat of various plants, animals and rare bird species.

According to the bill, at the proposal of the Estonian Nature Foundation, the Gretagrund sandbank, located in Saare County, is taken under protection. A new natural protected area will be created on the sandbank - the first nature reserve in Estonia to be located entirely in the sea.

Studying natural environment Gretagrund Bank in cooperation with marine biologists, and the proposal to create a nature reserve is part of the work of the Estonian Nature Foundation to protect marine flora and fauna.

There are several types of protected natural areas on the Baltic Sea. Some of them, such as Baltic Sea Protected Areas (BSPAs) or Important Bird Areas (IBAs), are established for the benefit of different countries by international organizations such as HELCOM and BirdLife. Such territories are important for the entire Baltic Sea. Marine areas of the Natura 2000 network are another example of efforts to protect marine ecosystems. They are approved at the national level. National protected areas also play a major role in preserving the marine environment. Created in the most important and vulnerable areas, they guarantee the conservation of marine natural values.

An important point is the creation of a network of marine protected areas. Such a network is especially important for moving groups of animals such as birds, mammals and fish, especially migrants. If only wintering areas are protected and breeding areas remain unprotected, the species may face the risk of extinction. Some coastal areas are also connected in special ways.

Reefs are probably the most attractive and ecologically important biotopes in the eastern Baltic Sea, true oases providing a high biodiversity of fish, birds, invertebrates and plants. Reefs can be biological in origin (for example, coral reefs) or geological - like the reefs in the Baltic Sea, formed on soils and rocks rising from the sandy bottom. Depending on the environmental conditions in each region, they form unique formations that become home to specific types of plants and animals.

The most typical species in such conditions are red, brown and green algae, as well as species of animals associated with the bottom, for example, ascidians, bryozoans, bivalves (Modiolus modiolus, Mytilus sp., Dreissena polymorpha), crustaceans, benthic fish.

Reefs are used for spawning by most commercial fish species and provide feeding grounds for diving birds that feed on molluscs and crustaceans. Reefs attract fish, which are followed by seals, so reefs play an important role in food chains.

Defense of the Baltic Sea

The development of transport infrastructure in the Baltic region, active transportation of oil and petroleum products, increasing consumption levels - all this significantly increases the threat of destruction of the natural complexes of the Baltic. Reducing this threat is only possible if there is a strong and consolidated position and joint actions of all environmental organizations in the region.

The WWF Baltic program brings together the efforts of WWF Russia, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Germany, WWF Latvian and Polish program offices, as well as the Estonian Nature Fund (ELF) and the Baltic Nature Fund (Russia) to preserve the environment of the Baltic Sea as an integral part of the ecoregion " Northeast Atlantic".

WWF's Baltic program aims to develop integrated management of the territories, coasts and waters of the entire Baltic drainage basin and to expand the capabilities of local residents to sustainably use the resources of the Baltic Sea. WWF is currently working to expand the network of marine and coastal protected areas to preserve the most important natural sites of the Baltic Sea and its basin. WWF is taking measures aimed at establishing fishing-free zones, using exclusively environmentally friendly fishing methods and introducing administrative and market mechanisms to support environmentally friendly fishing enterprises.

Back in 1996–1999, WWF implemented a program that contributed to the return of the white-tailed eagle to the Baltic region.

WWF's information support contributed to the fact that in 2004 the Baltic Sea was declared a particularly vulnerable marine area. We managed to achieve this decision, despite the active opposition of those who transport petroleum products on old and environmentally hazardous ships. The designation of the Baltic Sea as a particularly sensitive maritime area means that all ships passing through the Baltic Sea must take additional precautions when navigating.

ELF has trained several oil pollution response teams that can take part in the response to an oil spill in the Baltic Sea.

WWF is currently working to expand the network of marine and coastal protected areas to preserve the most important natural sites of the Baltic Sea and its basin. WWF is taking measures aimed at establishing fishing-free zones, using exclusively environmentally friendly fishing methods and introducing administrative and market mechanisms to support environmentally friendly fishing enterprises. WWF works to reduce nutrient inputs into the Baltic Sea by supporting sustainable agricultural practices, effective wastewater treatment, and wetland conservation and restoration.

Nord Stream and environmental safety of the Baltic Sea

The project for the construction of the North European Gas Pipeline has been developed since 1997, but only in 2006 did construction begin on its onshore part from Portovaya Bay near the city of Vyborg to the east towards the city of Gryazovets (Vologda region) and further to the Yuzhnorusskoye oil and gas field with a total length of 920 km. The length of the two strings of the offshore part of the gas pipeline along the bottom of the Baltic Sea should be 1,200 km and another about 400 km along Germany to connect to the main gas-carrying network of Europe.

For the construction of the gas pipeline, adopted steel pipes strength class K60 with a diameter of 1220 mm and a thickness of 36 mm with an external three-layer anti-corrosion coating 5.0 mm thick and an internal epoxy coating. All this will be reinforced with a layer of concrete 8-10 cm thick.

There are two possible options for laying the gas pipeline: directly or with an intermediate compressor station built on a metal platform on a bank near the island of Gogland. A compressor station with a capacity of 425 MW will be built in the Portovaya Bay area, which will allow pumping 55 billion m3 of natural gas per year. Compression stations for gas pumping must be supported in two pipelines high pressure(calculation using the Poiseuille formula) up to 21 MPa. To safely isolate sections of the gas pipeline in the event of accidents occurring on them during operation, pneumatic-hydraulic ball valves, as well as linear valves with remote telemechanical control, will be used as shut-off valves on the pipeline. In the event of extreme situations along the North European Gas Pipeline route, it is possible to safely stop the technological process using an automated gas transport control system.

In order to increase the level of environmental safety of the gas pipeline, the pipes must be buried and laid in trenches in potentially dangerous shallow areas of the Baltic Sea bottom. To ensure the stability of the position of the gas pipeline from floating, it is provided for ballasting with female weights.

Compared to land pipelines, sea pipelines are characterized by a significantly lower explosion and fire hazard during operation due to the absence of large amounts of oxygen in the water. However, the absence of fire due to a gas leak from an underwater pipeline does not yet indicate the environmental safety of this facility. For example, natural gas leaking from a damaged pipeline rises and forms a toxic cloud over the surface of the water area, which is carried by the wind. The ascent of gas occurs in the form of a two-phase jet, consisting of individual bubbles, forming on the surface of the water a kind of “fluidized layer” with a diameter of up to 100 m. On the shelf it is smaller, but on it gas, when leaked (with a guillotine rupture of a pipe), can form gas-water fountains up to a height of 60 m. At a depth of more than 100 m, no fountains are formed during a guillotine rupture of a pipe.

In the case of laying pipelines buried in the ground, a trench is dug in loose soils (several meters wide and deep), and a large amount of suspended matter is formed. This is one of the main impacts of laying pipelines on the seabed. Other types of impact include the following:

changing the morphology and distribution of sediments due to the physical presence of pipes and trench digging;

changes in the composition of bottom biocenoses due to fouling if the pipe lies on the surface;

an obstacle to the migration of mobile benthic organisms if the pipe lies on the bottom surface;

noise, thermal and electromagnetic effects.

Obviously, the most severe harmful effects when laying offshore pipelines occur in spawning areas, for example, cod in the Baltic Sea.

The average number of incidents per year related to navigation is 60±3 (of which 8±2 are ship collisions). The highest density of incidents with ships occurs in the coastal zone, near ports and in the Kattegat Strait (about 2,000 large ships can be at sea at the same time). The statistical risk of such accidents may double by 2015, which will be associated with both an increase in the number of ships in the Baltic Sea and a doubling of the volume of transported oil. Although it should be noted that the pollution of the Baltic Sea is largely determined by the contribution of the waters of the 250 rivers flowing into it, which are influenced by industry and agriculture (with a population of more than 80 million people living in the area around the Baltic Sea).

The depth of the Baltic Sea can reach 459 m, with an average value of 86 m. Data on the likelihood of ice formation indicate additional difficulties in navigating ships, especially in the Gulf of Finland. Water exchange between the Baltic Sea and the open North Sea occurs through narrow and shallow straits between Sweden and Denmark. The sea is susceptible to eutrophication.

In the event of a gas pipeline rupture Negative consequences will consist of the poisonous effect on fish of natural gas passing through the upper layers of water, and hydrogen sulfide carried away by this gas from the anaerobic zone. Methane and other hydrocarbons have a narcotic and neuroparalytic effect on aquatic organisms, which increases with increasing water temperature. Its effect is based on hypoxia, which sharply increases in the presence of ethane, propane, butane and other homologues of this series. The death of juvenile and adult fish will occur in water masses with a methane concentration of 0.7-1.4 mg-l exposure for tens of hours. The safe level of hydrogen sulfide in water for freshwater fish, given in foreign literature, is 0.002 mg-l.

When a gas pipeline ruptures on the shelf, the negative impact of natural gas on fish located on the shelf early stages development will be intensified by a powerful hydrodynamic shock that will occur during a salvo release of gas pumped under high pressure.

Another factor in the negative impact of a gas pipeline rupture on the ichthyofauna will be an increase in the concentration of suspended matter formed during the explosion. This impact is similar to the impact during construction, but it is more short-term.

Very important problem The laying of the North European Gas Pipeline along the bottom of the Baltic Sea is associated with buried chemical and conventional weapons (explosives), carried out by decision of the allied countries after the end of World War II.

From 1945 to 1948, almost 300 thousand tons of chemical munitions were discovered on German territory, which Hitler never decided to use. The Americans found 93,995 tons in their zone, the British - 122,508, the French - 9,100, and in the Soviet zone there were 70,500 deadly tons.

Perhaps at that time the Allies did not have the strength or capacity to reprocess and dispose of Germany's chemical weapons. By decision of the triple commission of the victorious countries, more than half of all toxic substances were sunk in the waters of the Baltic Sea. In the Skagerrak Strait, 130 thousand tons were “buried” at the bottom, east of the island of Bornholm and south of the island of Gotland - 40 thousand tons.

Air bombs and shells, mines and containers, high-power bombs and smoke grenades were sunk. This work was undertaken by the USA and the USSR. Moreover, the Americans lowered ships to the bottom, and the Russians threw weapons from the side of the ship while it was moving. With this method of flooding - “in bulk” - it was assumed that the shells would go into the ground and would no longer pose a particular danger. Decisions made half a century ago today lead to tragic consequences.

Now environmentalists believe that the fatal mistake of the Allies was the very idea of ​​​​flooding 0B in the waters of the Baltic. Another miscalculation was the immersion of weapons in the depressions of the Baltic Sea. Later it turned out that these depressions were formed under the influence of strong currents. Currents continuously wash them and transport masses of sand. That is, shells and bombs buried there are subject not only to chemical corrosion, but also to accelerated abrasive destruction.

In the second half of the 90s. The first signs of disaster appeared: the casings of some bombs and shells collapsed, and toxic substances entered the Baltic. Diseases among Swedish fishermen are not the only example of the influence of 0B leaking into the sea. There have been cases of poisoning from contaminated fish in Denmark, Sweden, and Poland.

However, they try not to advertise these incidents. In particular, on the island of Gotland they are not interested in wide publicity travel companies. It seems that many people adhere to the point of view “maybe everything will go away on its own.”

On the Danish island of Bornholm, a possible environmental disaster was taken much more seriously. A treatment plant was built. Little by little, chemical weapons are being picked up and sent for processing. But the capacity is clearly not enough.

5 thousand tons of chemical weapons were buried directly off the coast of Germany. The leadership of Germany back in the 50s. reburied them on land. But a huge part of the 0V ammunition still lies on the bottom of the Baltic, is destroyed, and therefore poses a serious threat to all countries in the region. At the bottom of the Baltic Sea there are cold currents from the Atlantic to the Gulf of Finland. And warm currents are near the surface (in the opposite direction). It is clear that all states of the Baltic basin will suffer from the release of pollutants into the environment, and the entire ecosystem will irreversibly change.

Burying chemical weapons at the bottom of the sea is not a well-thought-out decision, and its consequences are an example of environmental terrorism towards the Baltic Sea ecosystem and the people who live and work there. The weapons were buried, both in concentrated form and in bulk, in the Baltic Sea in the Skagerrak and Kattegat straits, near the Swedish port of Lysekil, between the Danish island of Funen and the mainland. In total, in six areas of the water area, the American and British occupation forces sank 302,875 tons of toxic substances. Chemical weapons arsenals discovered by Soviet forces in East Germany were also sunk in the Baltic Sea and included:

71469 aerial bombs weighing 250 kg, filled with mustard gas;

14258 aerial bombs weighing 250 and 500 kg. filled with chloroacetophenone and arsine oil and aerial bombs weighing 50 kg, filled with adamsite;

408,565 artillery shells of 75, 105 and 150 mm caliber, filled with mustard gas and lewisite;

34592 chemical land mines of 20 and 50 kg, filled with mustard gas;

10420 smoke chemical mines of 100 mm caliber;

1004 technological tanks containing 1506 tons of mustard gas;

8429 barrels containing 1030 tons of adamsite and diphenylchlorarsine;

169 tons of technological containers containing cyanide salt, chlorarsine, cyanarsine and axelarsine;

7840 cans of cyclone, which the Nazis used in death camps for the mass extermination of prisoners in gas chambers.

The greatest danger to living organisms is mustard gas, most of which lies on the seabed in the form of pieces of poisonous jelly. Mustard gas and lewisite hydrolyze well and form toxic substances that retain their properties for quite a long time. The properties of lewisite are similar to those of mustard gas; however, lewisite contains arsenic, so both the products of its transformation and the possibility of their transfer along trophic chains are environmentally dangerous. Therefore, the construction of special sarcophagi for sunken chemical weapons and the use of other measures to isolate and neutralize toxic substances is an urgent task, the solution of which should ensure the environmental safety of the Baltic Sea ecosystem.

Environmental risks associated with the destruction of the shells of chemical weapons containing tabun, mustard gas, lewisite and phosgene can lead to the emergence of a affected area (by volume) from 102 to 105 m3 with a duration of action from 0.3 to 11 hours. However, it should be noted that it is possible to neutralize mustard gas with the help of bacteria Pseudomonas doudoroffii. Explosives contained in grenades, shells and aerial bombs, when exploded, can have an impact at a distance of 5 to 300 m. Adhering to the principle of “do no harm”, the designers of the NEGP route (Gazprom, Giprospegaz and Peter Gas) will build route in a 500 m wide zone beyond the range of these weapons.

All this, including information about the geological features of the Baltic Sea bottom, about the main shipping routes (about 200 thousand ships per year) and all information about regular monitoring of potentially dangerous places during the transportation of hydrocarbons, should be concentrated and archived on the basis of GIS technologies, which could would be used to analyze the state of the ecosystem, and in case of emergency situations would allow taking management decisions to eliminate such situations.

In the event of a pipeline rupture, in the initial period, if ignition does not occur, gas dispersion processes will occur in the surrounding space with the formation of “gas-contaminated” zones. At volumetric gas concentrations from 5 to 15%, such zones become fire hazardous and can, if a fire source appears, ignite with the formation of a secondary wave of excess pressure and a deflagration flame, which pose a certain danger to recipients who find themselves within such a zone. In the absence of combustion, the gas cloud will eventually rise into the upper atmosphere and dissipate. The dispersal of the cloud is facilitated by a sharp decrease in the intensity of gas emissions from the ends of the destroyed pipeline, as a result of which, within the first minutes after the rupture, the gas-contaminated zone, having reached its maximum size, will begin to rapidly decrease.

The greatest danger is posed by accidents involving gas ignition in the initial period, i.e. immediately after a gas pipeline rupture. At the same time, the nature of gas combustion and the scale of the fire’s impact on the environment depend on a large number and specific combination of a number of factors, the main of which are the following:

operating gas pressure, gas pipeline diameter and location of the rupture;

the presence and location of isolation valves, as well as the possibility of overlapping them:

method of laying the pipeline;

general dimensions of destruction (linear crack path);

characteristic dimensions (length, width, depth) and shape of the ground formation (trench or pit);

soil mass properties;

relative position of the axes of the fixed ends of the destroyed pipeline.

Projects of this kind require subregional cooperation between HELCOM countries in order to examine, monitor and improve environmental safety standards, in particular, shipping and fishing in the Baltic Sea.

Eutrophication and its impact on the Baltic Sea ecosystem

In the past century, as a result of human anthropogenic activity, the volume of phosphorus in the Baltic Sea basin has increased eightfold, and nitrogen fourfold. This human impact on the Baltic Sea ecosystem has led to a very large increase in the biomass of algae, which sink to the bottom of the sea in large quantities and decomposing there, lead to a reduction in oxygen, and then, as a result of the activity of anaerobic bacteria, hydrogen sulfide begins to be released, which kills all living things at the bottom. The effect of eutrophication on the species composition of fish is as follows: in the Baltic Sea, reproduction is observed, primarily of roaches and those species of fish that feed on primary producers. In the mid-80s, half of the fish biomass came from roaches alone.

Blooms of toxic blue-green algae, which appear in the open sea at the end of the summer season, are caused by cyanobacteria that bind molecular nitrogen dissolved in water from the atmosphere. About half of the nitrogen entering the sea comes from the atmosphere, where it comes from the burning of fossil fuels and from ammonia evaporated from agriculture. Intensive transport and cattle breeding, highly developed in Central Europe, lead to the fact that the largest amount of nitrogen precipitation falls over the Baltic Sea.

Phosphorus, in turn, enters the sea through rivers and has agricultural and forestry origins. Abundant fertilizers easily flow from the fields into local reservoirs, from where they are subsequently carried into the sea by rivers. Some phosphorus enters the sea through the atmosphere or from point sources of pollution such as hygienic and sewage waste from populated areas and industrial enterprises. As a result of human agricultural activities along the shores of the Baltic Sea, 200,000 tons of nitrogen and 5,000 tons of phosphorus enter the sea annually, which is 30-40% for nitrogen and 10% for phosphorus of the total load on the entire Baltic Sea basin. As a result of the increasing phenomenon of eutrophication, degradation of the food web in the Baltic Sea ecosystem begins, food chain becomes completely one-sided due to a sharp increase in some species and a sharp reduction in others.

In addition, blue-green algae, during their bloom, release various toxins that are very poisonous to humans. The ban on swimming has become a sad reality on many beaches in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and last year also in Estonia. In mid-July, due to algae, the seashores in our country were closed to swimming in Pirita and Štromka in Tallinn, as well as in Toila and Narva-Jõesuu in the north-east of the country. Among the symptoms of human poisoning by blue-green algae, doctors call redness of the skin and eyes, deterioration of health, upset stomach, fever, runny nose, cough, muscle aches, dry lips and loss of coordination.

Conclusion

The Baltic Sea is a water area protruding deeply into the mainland, belonging to the Atlantic Ocean basin and connected to the World Ocean only by narrow straits.

The Baltic Sea serves as a receiving basin for more than two hundred rivers. More than half of the total area of ​​the Baltic Sea basin is drained by the largest rivers - Neva, Vistula, Western Dvina (Daugava), Neman (Nemunas), and it is into them that most of the pollutants generated as a result of anthropogenic activities in the territory fall.

The results of the study showed that the environmental risks associated with the construction project of the North European Gas Pipeline along the bottom of the Baltic Sea are an order of magnitude lower than in the case of oil transportation by ship. Risk emergency situations is highest during tanker transportation of oil. And although natural gas is less dangerous than oil and its derivatives, both of these energy carriers, when released into the marine environment, contribute to pollution and changes in the trophic conditions of the Baltic Sea ecosystem. Therefore, environmental monitoring of hydrocarbon transportation routes in the Baltic Sea should be comprehensive and regular, with permanent automated control posts at the most dangerous places along oil and gas transportation routes.

Ensuring the environmental safety of the flora and fauna of the Baltic Sea and the marine ecosystem as a whole should be carried out within the framework of international law and close cooperation of the Baltic Sea countries.

Bibliography

1. Furman E., Munsterhulm R., Saleman H., Välyapakk P. “Baltic Sea. Environment and Ecology", Kh.: Printing Digitone Oy, 2002.

2. Rastoskuev V.V., Shalina E.V. “Geoinformation technologies in solving problems of environmental safety”, St. Petersburg: VVM, 2006.

3. Alkhimenko A.I. “Accidental oil spills at sea and combating them. Tutorial for Universities", St. Petersburg: OM-Press, 2004.

4. Goncharov V.K., Pimkin V.G. "Forecasting environmental consequences release of toxic substances into the marine environment from old chemical weapons sunk in the Baltic Sea. Environmental chemistry", 2000

5. Yakovlev V.V. “Oil, gas, consequences of emergency situations”, St. Petersburg: SPbSPU, 2003.

Regulatory acts

6. Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area (Helsinki Convention), 03/22/1974, entered into force 05/03/1980

Electronic sources

7. http://www.mnr.gov.ru/files/part/3396_nord_stream_espoo_report_russia_binder_3-small.pdf