Environmental Degradation of the Black Sea

The Black Sea currently faces severe ecological disequilibrium due primarily to eutrophication and other types of contamination from atmospheric, river and land-based sources. Among the most critical contemporary concerns are eutrophication and associated deterioration of water quality, plankton blooms, hypoxia and anoxia, loss of biodiversity and decline of living resources. The present volume contains 22 peer-reviewed papers presented at the NATO-ARW on the Environmental Degradation of the Black Sea. Each paper focuses on different aspects of the Black Sea's oceanography. As a whole, the book covers a wide range of topics, from oil spills to geology, from observations of ecological process to modelling. The papers fall into two main groups: scientific papers addressing the environmental degradation of the Black Sea, and reports on the achievements of the existing international programmes. Our current knowledge of the Black Sea's oceanography is reviewed, and areas are identified where further research is needed.