Abstract
Findings from a long-term study of the Baltic Sea reveal possible answers to issues of intense worldwide concern.
As one of the best-investigated seas in the world for more than a century, the Baltic Sea has been subject to environmental protection measures endorsed by the international Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) in 1979. Now, based on a fifty-year study conducted by the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research (abbreviated IOW for Leibniz-Institut für Ostseeforschung Warnemünde), this book brings together an organized and comprehensive summary of their fascinating observations and findings. Written by well-known experts from IOW and other international institutes, this revealing book concentrates on long-term changes in the Baltic Sea—which can be extrapolated to shed light on the environmental problems of other shelf seas, brackish seas, and large estuaries—thereby contributing to our understanding of water exchange processes, eutrophication, and climatic impacts at the forefront of international concern.
