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 fur Ostseeforschung Warnemunde), 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.