Unexploded bombs, piles of rubbish – Europe's most polluted sea

Unexploded bombs, piles of rubbish – Europe's most polluted sea

Today, the Baltic Sea is the most dangerous sea in Europe. Industrial activity, overfishing and the accumulating rubbish make it perilous in some places, while the tonnes of weapons and bombs from the world wars make it an outright death zone in other areas.

WORLD JULY 17. 2023 13:27

Much of the ammunition lying on the bottom of European seas – both conventional and chemical – was deliberately dumped in the water by the armed forces of several countries in the 20th century, in an attempt to deactivate them and disarm. Only a fraction of this comes from military activities, including naval combat and mine warfare. It was only in 1975 that a treaty was signed banning anyone from dumping and burying additional weapons in the sea.

The Baltic Sea is the most dangerous of all, with hundreds of thousands of tonnes of unexploded ordnance lying at its bottom. These are particularly dangerous because if, for example, the anchor of a ship or a fishing boat’s gear were to hit a bomb, lives could be at risk, if it exploded. In addition, if several bombs are lying close together, a single detonation can set off a chain reaction that can also cause the surrounding bombs and munitions to explode.

For years, submarines and divers have been trying to map the seabed and coastal bays, but it is almost impossible to locate such a huge quantity in full.

The munitions dumped into the sea slowly corrode and release dangerous substances into the water, such as mustard gas, which also pose a threat to human health, but especially to the aquatic environment.

This inland sea basin is home to 85 million people, so there is plenty of industry and agriculture and traffic is big. As a result, a lot of toxins, exhaust fumes and fertilisers are seeping into the Baltic Sea. The flood of heavy metals and pesticides has been stemmed, but the amount of nitrates, nitrogen oxides and phosphates fertilising the Baltic Sea is still too high. The tonnes of garbage are also extremely damaging to marine life, with literally everything – from household appliance parts and everyday items to packaging and plastic bottles – found in the water.

And if all this was not enough, climate change appears to be annulling every efforts designed to restore the Baltic Sea. Higher water temperatures make it easier for invasive species to colonise. The warming temperatures can lead to the spread of new pathogens and favour the proliferation of algae, which increases the so-called dead zones. And the change is rapid. The Baltic Sea is far ahead of the oceans in terms of warming. The water is warming by 0.6 Celsius degrees per decade, three times as much as in other seas. Although the countries concerned are doing their best to slow down this process, it appears to be a much more difficult task than in the case of any other lake, river or sea.

WORLD

Tags:

Baltic countries, bombs, junk, sea