Table Of ContentClimate Impacts on the Baltic Sea: From Science
to Policy
Springer Earth System Sciences
Forfurthervolumes:
http://www.springer.com/series/10178
Marcus Reckermann Keith Brander
l l
Brian R. MacKenzie Anders Omstedt
l
Editors
Climate Impacts on the Baltic
Sea: From Science to Policy
School of Environmental Research –
Organized by the Helmholtz-Zentrum
Geesthacht
Editors
MarcusReckermann KeithBrander
Helmholtz-ZentrumGeesthacht TechnicalUniversityofDenmark
(HZG) JaegersborgAllé1
Max-Planck-Strasse1 Charlottenlund
Geesthacht Denmark
Germany
BrianR.MacKenzie AndersOmstedt
TechnicalUniversityofDenmark UniversityofGothenburg
JaegersborgAllé1 EarthSciencesCentre
Charlottenlund Gothenburg
Denmark Sweden
ISBN978-3-642-25727-8 ISBN978-3-642-25728-5(eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-3-642-25728-5
SpringerHeidelbergNewYorkDordrechtLondon
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2012936488
# Springer-VerlagBerlinHeidelberg2012
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Preface
TheBalticSeaareaisanoldculturallandscapewithawelldevelopedinternational
framework for monitoring, assessing and managing its marine ecosystems. It
provides agoodcasestudyfor otherregions wheresuch management isbeingset
up.Oneofourmainaimsistointroducethisexampleofmanagementinactiontoa
widercommunity.TheexistingBalticSeaActionPlan,whichisamajorcomponent
ofthemanagementframework,hasnotyetbeenextendedtoincludeclimatechange
impacts,soanotheraimistosupplysomeofthebackgroundneededtodothis.
With a catchment basin covering almost 20% of the European continent, the
BalticSeaisoneofthelargestbrackishseasintheworld.Itspansdifferentclimate
and population zones, from the temperate, highly populated and industrialized
south with intensive agriculture, to the boreal and rural north. The Baltic Sea
featuressomenaturalpeculiaritieswhichmakeitsecosystemsespeciallyvulnerable
to external stresses due to pollution, eutrophication and climate change. Water
exchange with the North Sea and world oceans is limited; the deep basins are
separatedbysills,andthereisasteepsalinitygradient fromsouthtonorth.Inthe
past decades, the Baltic Sea has demonstrated its sensitivity to various human
pressuresandtoclimatechange.
This book is the outcome of a Summer School titled “Climate Impacts on the
BalticSea:FromSciencetoPolicy”,whichtookplaceinNexøontheDanishBaltic
Sea island of Bornholm, 27 July to 5 August 2009. The purpose of the summer
schoolwastoprovideanintroductiontotheentirerangeofclimatechangeimpacts
ontheBalticSea,includingitscatchmentbasin,fromthephysicalandbiologicalto
the societal and political impacts. An interdisciplinary approach was followed:
studentsfromdifferentnaturalsciencedisciplinescomingtogethertodevelopskills
in observing, modelling, projecting and interpreting physical and biological
changes in the Baltic Sea. An important goal of the course was to demonstrate
howdiscipline-specificscientificknowledgecanbecombinedinordertocontribute
torealmanagementsolutionsattheecosystemlevel,andhowscientificassessments
ofclimatechangeimpactscanbecommunicatedtopolicymakersandthegeneral
public. Such interdisciplinary assessments are increasingly required as part of the
v
vi Preface
management of societal pressure on marine ecosystems and to deal with the
additionalpressurefromclimatechange.
TwentystudentsfromallacrosstheBalticSeacametogetherinthe“Møbelfab-
rikken”, a former furniture factory, which proved to be a perfect venue for the
course. Sunny, warm weather and occasional recreational swims at the nearby
rockybeachescontributedtothegoodspirit.Thefacilitiesarecloseto‘Bornholms
lakseklækkeri’(BornholmSalmonHatchery,ownedbyDTU-Aquaandusedasan
experimental cod hatchery and release facility for stock enhancement) which was
alsovisitedduringthecourse.
StudentsandlecturersinfrontoftheMøbelfabrikken
Studentswereassignedactivitiestodeveloptheirdiscipline-specificknowledge,
learn how the knowledge could be translated to management and policy actions,
andimprovegeneralscientificskills(e.g.oralandwrittenpresentationofscientific
results; organisation and structuring of group work; collaboration with colleagues
from different nations and disciplines). The course contained lectures, individual
exercises,discussiontutorialsandgroupexercises.Onetypeofgroupexercisewas
discipline-specific (e.g. related to modelling oceanographic or fish population
responses to climate change), while the second was course-long, interdisciplinary
and oriented to management objectives for the Baltic Sea ecosystem. This over-
arching task was the preparation and presentation by four student groups of a
“climatechangeactionplan”thatwouldsupplementtheexistingHELCOMBaltic
Sea Action Plan. The task inspired some long evening and night sessions among
Preface vii
studentsandlecturers.Attheendofthecourse,studentswereaskedtogiveanoral
presentation of their visions. The outcomes of this exercise (one page summaries
and presentations) are available at the course website: www.baltex-research.eu/
baltic2009.
Thechaptersinthisbookarebasedonlecturesgivenatthecourse.Theycovera
range of topics, spanning from detailed descriptions of political agreements that
protectthemarineenvironment,tobasicmodellinginstructions,toanassessmentof
thepossibleimpactsofclimatechangeonthemarineecosystem,toareflectionon
theroleofclimatescientistsandtheirresponsibilityinsociety.
ChrisHopkinspresentsanextensiveoverviewoverinternationalenvironmental
agreementsandconventionsanddemonstratestheirrole,importanceandeffective-
ness for the environmental recovery of the Baltic Sea. This chapter represents an
unprecedented summaryofthese activitiesinthe Baltic Searegion andEuropein
general (Chap. 1). Minna Pyhälä focuses on a recent and important activity: the
HELCOMBalticSeaActionPlan(BSAP)astheprominentinternationalagreement
aiming at a fundamental recovery of the Baltic Sea (Chap. 2). Anders Omstedt
discusses basic oceanographic features of the Baltic Sea, and gives a basic intro-
ductionhowtheseprocesses,includingimportant aspectsofthecarboncycle,can
be modelled (Chap. 3). Eduardo Zorita provides a basic introduction to the
principlesofclimatemodellingwithaspecialemphasisontherelateduncertainties
(Chap. 4). Keith Brander and Jon Havenhand give a short overview of the
observedandpossiblefutureimpactsofclimatechangeonthemarineecosystems,
including acidification (Chap. 5), and Rabea Diekmann and co-authors present
some background on ecosystem theory related to abrupt ecosystem changes
referredtoasregimeshifts,includingadescriptionofstatisticaltechniqueswhich
canbeusedtoanalyzesuchregimeshifts(Chap.6).Sustainabilityisacentralterm
in the protection and management of ecosystems, but it is also essential that
scientists themselves act in a responsible and sustainable way, as explained by
HansvonStorch(Chap.7).
Thisinterdisciplinarybookisprimarilydirectedatstudentsandlecturersofthe
environmentaldisciplinestoprovideanoverviewofthepossibleimpactsofclimate
changeontheBalticSea.Wealsointendittoserveasagoodbackgroundreference
forscientistsandpolicymakers,bothfortheBalticSeaareaandmoregenerally.
MarcusReckermann
KeithBrander
BrianMacKenzie
AndersOmstedt
.
Acknowledgments
The summer school was co-organized by the Danish Technical University DTU-
Aqua, the University of Gothenburg and BALTEX, the interdisciplinary research
networkfortheBalticSeabasin.TheschoolwasprimarilysupportedbytheNordic
Marine Academy (NMA) as an Advanced Course, and by BONUS, the Baltic
Organisations Network for Funding Science EEIG. Further support came from
the Danish Technical University (DTU-Aqua), the University of Gothenburg,
Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht (HZG, formerly GKSS) and its “Gesellschaft zur
Förderung des GKSS Forschungszentrums e.V.”, fishnet.dk, EUR-OCEANS and
BALTEX.ThesummerschoolisacontributiontotheBONUS+projectsBaltic-C
andECOSUPPORT.
The idea of a summer school initiated within the BALTEX and the EUR-
OCEANS programmes. The editors and course organizers would like to thank
Fritz Köster and David Turner for early discussions on the possibility to organize
ajointEUR-OCEANS-BALTEXsummerschoolonBornholm,andGötzFlöserof
Helmholtz-ZentrumGeesthacht(HZG)fortheopportunitytopublishthisbookina
book series of HZG summer schools. The reviewers of chapter manuscripts are
particularly thanked for their valuable comments to improve the quality of the
manuscripts.ThankyoualsotoSilkeKöppenattheInternationalBALTEXSecre-
tariat who put much effort into the technical editing of the manuscripts and
obtaining permissions. Furthermore, we would like to thank all lecturers for their
engagementandlastbutnotleastthestudentsfortheirinfectiousenthusiasm,which
madethissummerschoolsuchapleasantandvaluableexperience.
Theeditorsandcourseorganizers,July2011
MarcusReckermann InternationalBALTEXSecretariatatHelmholtz-Zentrum
Geesthacht,Germany
KeithBrander DanishTechnicalUniversity,NationalInstituteofAquatic
Resources(DTUAqua),Charlottenlund,Denmark
BrianMacKenzie DanishTechnicalUniversity,NationalInstituteofAquatic
Resources(DTUAqua),Charlottenlund,Denmark
AndersOmstedt DepartmentofEarthSciences,UniversityofGothenburg,
Sweden
ix
