Black Sea Nearly Twice as Polluted as Mediterranean
Results of a new study released this week show that the Black Sea is nearly twice as polluted as the Mediterranean Sea. It also warns that the levels of some pollutants exceed the threshold for public safety determined by the European Union.
The study, titled the Joint Black Sea Surveys, was conducted within the project Improving Environmental Monitoring in the Black Sea: Selected Measures (EMBLAS-Plus) by the EMBLAS-Phase 2 project team, in cooperation with the Ukrainian Scientific Center of Ecology of the Sea, the Institute of Marine Biology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Mechnikov National University, the Cousteau Society, and other partners. Data was collected from water off the coasts of Georgia, Ukraine, and Russia, and in international waters at the center of the Black Sea, from 2017 to 2019. All surveys were conducted in line with the requirements of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive, which aims to protect the marine environment across the EU. Scientists used the most advanced monitoring techniques, including non-target chemical screening and e-DNA analysis.
The joint European Union and UNDP-funded EMBLAS-Plus project builds on the results of the previous EMBLAS and EMBLAS-II projects “to improve protection of the Black Sea environment through further technical assistance focused on marine data collection and local small-scale actions targeted at reducing pollution by marine litter, raising awareness and educating the public,” explains the European Union. Key project partners include research, scientific and educational institutions, and civil society organizations in Georgia and Ukraine.
The EMBLAS-Plus project team and the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine presented their findings at a joint press conference in Odessa, Ukraine, on Monday, July 29. The researchers found that 83% of marine litter found in the Black Sea is plastic. “The Black Sea has higher litter densities due to limited exchange of water with the open oceans and the intensive loads of pollutants carried by large European rivers’ runoff, such as the Danube, Dniester, Don, Bug, and Kubani. Measuring litter items on the sea surface per square kilometer, the Black Sea has approximately 90.5, compared with the Mediterranean’s 50, and the North Sea’s 38. On the lower end of the spectrum, places like British Columbia, Canada (2) and the Southern Ocean (6) have hardly any litter, while on the higher end, the North Pacific and the Strait of Malacca, between Malaysia and Indonesia, are choked with trash, with 459 and 579 litter items per square kilometer, respectively.
On Black Sea beaches, the most common types of litter are cigarette butts, bottle caps, and packaging from chips or other snack foods. Flowing from rivers into the Black Sea, the most common pollutants are bottles, packaging, and plastic bags, among other pieces of unidentifiable plastics. Microplastics, at less than 5 mm, are also a significant problem and have dramatic consequences, particularly when ingested by marine life such as dolphins, fish, shellfish, and plankton. Marine litter is “a threat to biodiversity,” says EMBLAS-Plus, who also warns that by 2050, there will be more plastic in the world’s seas than fish.
The project released several other alarming infographics this week, including on dolphins, “the flagship species of the Black Sea,” the biodiversity of the Black Sea, the dangers of the rise of portions of the Black Sea without dissolved oxygen (the anoxic layer), chemical pollution and its sources, and, generally, the Black Sea at a glance – which EMBLAS-Plus calls “highly vulnerable.” For those infographics and more, visit emblasproject.org.
By Samantha Guthrie
Image source: EMBLAS-Plus