Baltic Sea panel calls for tighter emission restrictions

Optimism tinged with fears that the Baltic "will die without rapid action"

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The experts taking part in a Baltic Sea panel set up by Helsingin Sanomat in Helsinki’s Kaisaniemi Park on Saturday called for tighter emission restrictions both in Finland and across the European Union.
      The panelists expressed their serious concern about the Baltic Sea, saying that the body of water has deteriorated so much that it is on the brink of destruction.
      The Baltic Sea is already like a dying patient, with its stinking masses of algal blooms, as much of the pollution from homes, workplaces, farms, and ships ends up in the sea, they noted.
     
However, all panellists were optimistic, believing that rapid and determined actions could still rescue the sea.
      Even as the panellists were speaking, claimed John Nurminen of the Nurminen Foundation, more than two tons of phosphorus and around a dozen tons of nitrogen was being deposited in the sea.
      Time is of the essence.
     
Symptoms of the Baltic’s serious ecological problems are evident, as most panellists admitted having noticed themselves. Divers can no longer see the bottom of the sea, fish-eaters have to restrict their appetite because of toxin levels and depleted stocks, there is a widespread fear and loathing of algae, and some even refuse any longer to swim in the polluted and fragile inland sea.
      In their view, fishing of cod in the Baltic should be banned or at least severely restricted, before stocks are depleted down to zero.
      In addition to overfishing, another environmental threat is posed by the construction of the planned gas pipeline from Russia to Germany. Most panellists said that the pipeline should run over land and not along the bottom of the Gulf of Finland, as it could free up sediments from the seabed causing the sea water to become turbid for some time.
     
The panel was a part of the Itämeren aika event (”Time for the Baltic Sea”) that followed a series of articles in Helsingin Sanomat, discussing the deterioration of the Baltic Sea. The event was attended by hundreds of Helsinki citizens.
     
A survey commissioned by Helsingin Sanomat and conducted by Suomen Gallup in April indicated that people living in Finland, Estonia, and Sweden were all slightly more pessimistic than the panellists.
      All those polled in the three countries shared a concern about pollution in the Baltic Sea, while some 30 per cent of the Finns, 35 per cent of the Estonians, and around 40 per cent of the Swedes believed that it is still possible to improve the state of the Baltic Sea.
      Telephone interviews were made with roughly 1,000 people in all three Baltic Sea countries. The margin of error was around three percentage points either way.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Baltic Sea needs urgent attention (14.4.2008)
  Climate change boosts eutrophication in Gulf of Finland (6.3.2008)
  Comb jelly poses serious threat to Baltic Sea ecosystem (27.8.2007)
  Poll: Finns, Swedes, and Estonians very worried about pollution of Baltic Sea (16.5.2008)
  New project to treat Poland’s waste water; Finnish foundation helps develop removal of phosphorus (14.5.208)
  Rampant overfishing endangers Baltic fish stocks (29.4.2008)
  Environmental impact of Baltic Sea pipeline greatest in building phase (15.11.2006)

Links:
  John Nurminen Foundation: Clean Baltic Sea

Helsingin Sanomat