Baltic Sea (Central) - Environment

The Baltic Sea is an epicontinental and semienclosed sea with total volume of about 226 103 km3 and a mean depth of 60m. It is situated in the transition area of Atlantic marine and Eurasian continental climate systems. The Baltic Sea is characterized by a strong southwest-northeast salinity gradient (with saline water inflow from southwest) and north-south temperature gradient. The Baltic Sea was formed after the last glaciation with the contemporary ‘‘ecological age’’ of about 8,000 years. The large catchment area with about 85 million inhabitants and long water residence time (25–35 years) make the Baltic Sea especially vulnerable to a variety of human activities. The most important human activities influencing the environmental status of the Baltic Sea are pollution, maritime shipping, fisheries, nutrient input (Costello et al 2010), and recently also increasing energy production and pipelines.