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Chapter 4
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IntroductionThe drainage area, or basin, or catchment of the Baltic Sea covers15% of all Europe. The Baltic Sea basin is one out of six major basins in Europe. It accounts for a large part of Northern Europe and includes 14 countries in whole or part. The population is about 85 million. It is an area where east meets west and north meets south. Although this is a heterogeneous region a drainage area is a natural unit for study of the environment. Most pollutants are carried and disseminated by water. Thus a drainage area is ecologically relevant as the impacts becomes limited to the region. The Baltic Sea basin is an example of an ecogeographical natural unit. For hundreds of years waterways provided the best way of traveling and ships connected the coasts. Today it is rather common interests and responsibilities that link the countries in the region together. Paramount are the efforts to create international security. Environmental co-operation is part of the effort to develop a Baltic security community. Environmental co-operation in the Baltic Sea region begun in the 1970s. Pollutants are, however, also dispersed by wind and are therefore not always limited to the basin. The Baltic Sea basin receives airborne pollutants from Western Europe and exports some to Russia and the Ukraine. Thus we are also part of the global environment, with both responsibilities and rights. Authors of this chapter are: Lars Håkansson |
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