Multiple Pressures and their Combined Effects in Europe's Seas
ETC/ICM Technical Report 4/2019
- Publication
- Citation
Korpinen, S., Klančnik, K., Peterlin, M., Nurmi, M., Laamanen, L., Zupančič, G., Murray, C., Harvey, T., Andersen, J.H., Zenetos, A., Stein, U., Tunesi, L., Abhold, K., Piet, G., Kallenbach, E., Agnesi, S., Bolman, B., Vaughan, D., Reker, J. & Royo Gelabert, E., 2019, Multiple pressures and their combined effects in Europe’s seas. ETC/ICM Technical Report 4/2019: European Topic Centre on Inland, Coastal and Marine waters, 164 pp.
Practically the entire European marine area is facing multiple pressures – such as hazardous substances, fish stock exploitation, climate change, underwater noise, non-indigenous species, seafloor damage, marine litter and nutrient enrichment. This is the conclusion of a report by the European Topic Centre on Inland, Coastal and Marine Waters (ETC/ICM) of the European Environment Agency (EEA) that for the first time presents an overview of anthropogenic pressures and their combined effects on Europe's seas.
The assessment covers the period of 2011 to 2016 and presents how human activities and pressures on seas have changed over a longer time horizon. The highest potential combined effects are found along coastal areas of the North Sea, Southern Baltic Sea, Adriatic and Western Mediterranean. However, there are also positive developments and the report points to improvements in nutrient levels, hazardous substances and northern fish and tuna stocks.
The report, to which Dr. Ulf Stein and Katrina Abhold of Ecologic Institute contributed essential parts, is available for download.