Climate change
Climate change enhances eutrophication effects, makes the seas more acidic and changes the habitats. In recent years climate change has become one of the most significant threats to the Baltic Sea. Read the latest research, comments and analyses on how climate change is affecting the Baltic Sea.
News about ocean and climate
Read about our latest research and news on ocean and climate:
Policy briefs and fact sheets on ocean and climate
Read our policy briefs on ocean and climate
Baltic Eye's article archive on ocean and climate
Find Baltic Eye's article archive on climate here, with all articles written between 2018–2021. Newer articles are found in the Baltic Eye news feed, see above. Contact us if you are interested in older articles.
Articles from 2021
Baltic Breakfast: Impacts of climate change on the Baltic Sea – the known and the uncertain
2021.12.20: The temperature of air and water in the Baltic Sea region has already increased due to global warming, and it will continue to do so. On this, researchers and their models are certain. But when it comes to factors like precipitation and salinity, the uncertainties in the projections are larger. At the latest Baltic Breakfast, Markus Meier and Anna Rutgersson – two of the scientists in the joint HELCOM/Baltic Earth Expert Network on Climate Change – presented the latest scientific knowledge on the topic.
Baltic Breakfast: Impacts of climate change on the Baltic Sea – the known and the uncertain
Comment: EU Soil Strategy treads carefully
2021.12.09: Now it is here – the long-awaited proposal for an EU soil strategy. It treads carefully though, since the Commission’s last trial in 2006 to get a soil directive in place failed. So, this proposal mainly suggests long term objectives for soils and only has few hard core legally binding actions.
Comment: EU Soil Strategy treads carefully
New study: Climate change can impair the sea's ability to bind contaminants
2021.10.11: Climate change will probably mean increased precipitation and more rainfall. This, in turn, may may lead to a deterioration in the Baltic Sea's ability to bind contaminant such as PCBs and PAHs, according to a new study. The biggest change is likely to take place in the coastal zone.
New study: Climate change can impair the sea's ability to bind contaminants
Comment: Too vague recommendations from Baltic Sea parliamentarians
2021.09.03: The resolution on climate change and biodiversity from the Baltic Sea Parliamentarian Conference holds good ambitions, but lacks the level of concretion required to make real change.
Comment: Too vague recommendations from Baltic Sea parliamentarians
Baltic Breakfast: Blue carbon and methane emissions – how coasts and climate are connected
2021.08.31: The coastal ecosystems in the Baltic Sea are important for the climate – both by taking up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and by emitting methane. But are the Baltic Sea coasts net sinks or sources of carbon? At a recent Baltic Breakfast webinar, Camilla Gustafsson and Florian Roth presented their research and launched a new policy brief on the topic.
Baltic Breakfast: Blue carbon and methane emissions – how coasts and climate are connected
Baltic Breakfast: Seafood consumption from a sustainability perspective
2021.07.20: Is it sustainable to increase seafood consumption and how could consumers be encouraged to make sustainable choices? These issues were in focus during the last Baltic Breakfast webinar where researchers Sara Hornborg and Malin Jonell participated.
Baltic Breakfast: Seafood consumption from a sustainability perspective
Does protecting the seas save the climate?
2021.04.01: Bottom trawling not only has consequences for fish and organisms living on the seabed, but can also affect the circulation of substances in the sea and, by extension, the climate. A large international study has estimated how much carbon that is stored on the bottoms and risks being released when they are trawled. But researchers at the Baltic Sea Centre mean that the calculations are uncertain.
Does protecting the seas save the climate?
Comment: Poor conditions for algae cultivation in the Baltic Sea
2021.01.28: Algae is described in a new EU initiative as a largely untapped resource that can be used to produce food as well as pharmaceuticals and biofuels, with a limited carbon and environmental footprint. However, in the Baltic Sea the opportunities are small for developing profitable algae farms in the near future.
Comment: Poor conditions for algae cultivation in the Baltic Sea
Comment: A Blue Year for the Baltic
2021.01.22: 2020 – was it only bad? The pandemic tended to overshadow everything else, but let us forget about the terrible corona virus for a minute and consider if 2020 brought any positive news for the Baltic Sea and what we can expect of 2021.
Articles from 2020
Comment: "Ambitious objectives but lack substantial tools"
2020.12.21: The EU Commission proposal for the 8th Environment Action Programme until 2030 has ambitious objectives but lack substantial tools.
Comment: "Ambitious objectives but lack substantial tools"
The great plankton change – good or bad for the Baltic Sea ecosystem?
2020.11.16: The phytoplankton community of the Baltic Sea is changing. A trend towards more cyanobacteria and fewer diatoms affects the entire marine ecosystem. The big question for the marine scientists is: How?
The great plankton change – good or bad for the Baltic Sea ecosystem?
Analysis: Baltic Sea fishing has not gone according to (multiannual) plan
2020.10.07: The decline in Baltic Sea cod and herring cannot be blamed solely on old sins. It must also be seen as a signal that something is not right in the administration, writes the Baltic Sea Center's Henrik Hamrén.
Analysis: Baltic Sea fishing has not gone according to (multiannual) plan
Articles from 2019
Climate change will increase the pressure on the Baltic Sea
2019.12.04: Climate is high on the agenda again. The UN COP25 Climate Change Conference in Madrid, just started. Recently the European parliament approved a resolution declaring a climate and environmental emergency in Europe and globally. Climate change will increase the pressure on the Baltic Sea. Now it is time to start filling the goals with action for our seas.
Climate change will increase the pressure on the Baltic Sea
This is what the Baltic Sea can expect from the new Commission
2019.12.02: "The expectations on commissioner Sinkevičius are high".
This is what the Baltic Sea can expect from the new Commission
Articles from 2018
Guest column: Alan Matthews - National CAP strategies important for the marine environment
2018.12.05: Allocation of EU funding for environmentally friendly farming practices will be determined on national levels. For those who want to see reduced nutrient loads from agriculture to the marine environment, it will be important to participate in the design of the CAP Strategic Plans, writes Alan Matthews, Professor Emeritus at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.
Guest column: Alan Matthews - National CAP strategies important for the marine environment
Guest column: Commissioner Karmenu Vella - We cannot turn our backs on the oceans
2018.10.29: EU countries have to make sure that the agreed EU policies are duly carried out at home, writes Mr Karmenu Vella, European Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries in a guest column for the Baltic Eye web magasine.
Guest column: Commissioner Karmenu Vella - We cannot turn our backs on the oceans
BLOG: Welcome to WEGAS!
2018.10.11: No, that's not a typo. WEGAS is short for Water Equilibration Gas Analysis System, scientific analytical instruments that we took on board the recent research cruise.
BLOG: Digging in the mud
2018.10.07: I currently spend most of my time in the office, working with large datasets and computer models. So, I jumped at the opportunity to join a research cruise. It was great to be out of the office and learn first-hand about interesting research being conducted in the Baltic Sea.
Olle Torpman: The Baltic Sea problem – an ethical problem
2018.10.02: The Baltic Sea’s environmental problem can be solved, but, if the region’s actors are to be able to agree on practical solutions, we must start to bring more ethics into the debate, writes the philosopher Olle Torpman.
Olle Torpman: The Baltic Sea problem – an ethical problem
Baltic Eye’s work is analysed in a new international study
2018.09.14: "Responding to today's environmental challenges requires science to be integrated into politics and practice," says researcher Chris Cvitanovic, author of a new study on Baltic Eye's work to bridge the gap between science and policy.
Baltic Eye’s work is analysed in a new international study
Guest column: Competitive and eco-friendly agriculture is absolutely essential for the Baltic Sea
2018.08.07: “Having a competitive agricultural sector and funding earmarked for the environment and climate are the most important elements of the new agricultural reform,” writes Fredrick Federley (Centre Party Sweden) in a guest column.
Guest column: Competitive and eco-friendly agriculture is absolutely essential for the Baltic Sea
Articles from 2017
Analysis: Proposal for EU countries to have greater autonomy with agriculture
2017.12.19: The EU Commission wants to scrap greening from the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and create greater autonomy amongst the member states. “Increasing participation of the individual countries is good, but this presumes that the rules are the same for all; Nor must environmental considerations be undermined”, writes Gun Rudquist.
Analysis: Proposal for EU countries to have greater autonomy with agriculture
BLOG: Corporate environmental stewardship: a pathway to pollution management?
2017.08.27: What is it and what can it deliver?
BLOG: Corporate environmental stewardship: a pathway to pollution management?
BLOG: Who is Svante Arrhenius?
2017.07.20: On my way to the office on the Stockholm University campus, I walk down Svante Arrhenius väg, past a bronze bust of Svante Arrhenius and the Arrheniuslaboratorierna (Arrhenius Laboratories).
BLOG: Who is Svante Arrhenius?
BLOG: The dead zones
2017.06.29: You probably wouldn’t know one was there unless you had an oxygen meter.
BLOG: Nitrogen changed my life
2017.06.08: Learning about the nitrogen cycle helped my transition from business to science.
Articles from 2016
The Story of the Baltic Sea 2.0
2016.11.09: Over the years, the human perception of the ocean has changed. Our present-day tale of the Baltic Sea must weave together society, people and the sea, says researcher Susanna Lidström.
The Story of the Baltic Sea 2.0
Analysis: A manure diet – in wait for reduced meat consumption
2016.10.24: Reducing meat consumption can have positive environmental effects. But diets are unlikely to change overnight. Meanwhile, improved manure management can reduce nutrient loads to the Baltic Sea, writes Baltic Eye researcher Michelle McCrackin.
Analysis: A manure diet – in wait for reduced meat consumption
Last updated: January 30, 2023
Source: Östersjöcentrum