Balticsea 2020

Understanding hypoxia in the Baltic Sea

Lately the dead bottoms in the Baltic Sea, caused by eutrophication, have gained interest from engineers, proposing different methods to improve the poor oxygen conditions in the sea. What do we know about oxygen deficiency, or hypoxia, in the Baltic Sea, and is engineering the solution to the problem? These are questions looked into in the project “Understanding hypoxia in the Baltic Sea”.

Three seminars were arranged to evaluate the current knowledge of hypoxia in the Baltic Sea. The core message that summarized all the seminars conclusions was that, in order to improve the situation on the seabed, the emissions from land must be addressed first. Technical methods will not be effective if the nutrient loading from land continue at the same rate. If emissions are reduced, technical methods might facilitate the recovery processes of the dead bottoms.

Within the framework of this project modeling of various proposed technical solutions and their impact on the Baltic Sea were carried out.