Mallien mallit, poliittiset periaatteet ja tiedeyhteisö koronakriisissä

Kompleksisille dynaamisille systeemeille on tyypillistä, että yhden ongelman suoraviivainen korjaaminen johtaa sivuvaikutuksena uusiin ongelmiin ja siten uusiin korjausliikkeisiin, joilla on jälleen uudet sivuvaikutukset ja niin edelleen. Koronakriisin kohtaavaa yhteiskuntaa voidaan tarkastella tällaisena systeeminä, jolloin korostuu yhtäältä poikkitieteellisen dialogin ja moniulotteisen kokonaiskuvan merkitys sekä toisaalta päätöksentekoa ohjaavien periaatteiden vakauttava voima kaoottisessa ongelmien ja korjausliikkeiden kierteessä

Plastic debris composition and concentration in the Arctic Ocean, the North Sea and the Baltic Sea

Neuston samples were collected with a Manta trawl in the rim of the Arctic Ocean, in the Northern Atlantic Ocean and the Baltic Sea at eleven coastal and open-sea locations. All samples contained plastics identified by FTIR microscopy. Altogether, 110 microplastics pieces were classified according to size, shape, and polymer type. The concentrations at the locations were generally low (x̅ = 0.06, SD ± 0.04 particles m−3) as compared to previous observations. The highest concentrations were found towards the Arctic Ocean, while those in the Baltic Sea were generally low. The most abundant polymer type was polyethylene. Detected particle types were mainly fragments. The number of films and fibers was very low. The mean particle size was 2.66 mm (SD ± 1.55 mm). Clustering analyses revealed that debris compositions in the sea regions had characteristic differences possibly reflecting the dependences between compositions, drifting distances, sinking rates, and local oceanographic conditions.</p

Natural Law, the modeling relation, and two roots of perspectivism

Peer reviewe

Long-range drift of microplastics towards the Arctic Ocean - discussions on the issue and observations along the North Atlantic current system

Microplastic pollution in the aquatic ecosystems has recently gained considerable attention from both the scientific community and the public. Plastic particles have been detected in practically all marine habitats from surface waters to deep sea benthos and all over the globe, including the Arctic Ocean and adjacent seas. Local microplastic pollution is probably low in the Arctic due to extremely rare coastal human settlements, but long-range drift of microplastics discharged far away might be considered as an untrivial threat for the world’s northernmost marine ecosystems. Significant share of microplastics float on the surface water, and there is a net inward flux of surface waters into the Arctic Ocean due to the deep-water formation processes taking place in the region. Thus, there is a possibility which should be taken seriously that plastics originating from for instance Europe or the USA are constantly transported towards the Arctic Ocean. This study summarizes the main characteristics of the Arctic oceanography and reviews the current knowledge on microplastic distributions in the region. Combining the two aspects, a coherent framework for assessing the issue of microplastic pollution in the Arctic Ocean is provided, long-range drifting from the North Atlantic being an important part of it. Furthermore, a geographically very extensive set of microplastic samples was collected and analysed, ranging from the Baltic Sea to Svalbard and including different sections of the northward flowing current system. All samples contained plastics and characteristic shifts in microplastic compositions in offshore samples supported the idea of long range drifting. However, the dataset was small with respect to the issue in question and definitively more research and expeditions are needed

Water accounting as a tool for tracing the industries responsible for the point-source loads into water bodies

Highlights • Novel methodology introduced for allocating wastewater loads to industries. • P and N emission accountancies provided for 196 industries of a country. • High correspondence between independent bottom-up and top-down calculations. • Households and forest industry dominate P and N loads. Abstract Returning flows of water from the economy to the environment, particularly wastewaters, are highly important contributors to the quality of freshwater resources and the health of aquatic ecosystems. While the total loads of various harmful substances received by wastewater treatment facilities are often measured and reported, the origins of these loads are generally not allocated to specific industries. Instead, they pass from treatment facilities to the environment and are thus simply attributed to arising from the sewerage industry. In this study, we introduce a method for employing high-quality water accounting of the phosphorous and nitrogen loads and apply it to the Finnish economy. We also introduce a means for assessing the quality of the resulting accountancies and, for our Finnish case study, we show a close correspondence between independent top-down and bottom-up calculations, indicating the figures are highly reliable. We thus conclude, firstly, that the presented methodology can produce versatile and reliable data on different wastewater-related loads in the water; secondly, that such data can assist in developing appropriate mitigation strategies; and, thirdly, that the data may also be applied in further sustainability analyses, such as in environmentally extended input–output modelling

Echoes from the Past: A Healthy Baltic Sea Requires More Effort

Integrated sediment multiproxy studies and modeling were used to reconstruct past changes in the Baltic Sea ecosystem. Results of natural changes over the past 6000 years in the Baltic Sea ecosystem suggest that forecasted climate warming might enhance environmental problems of the Baltic Sea. Integrated modeling and sediment proxy studies reveal increased sea surface temperatures and expanded seafloor anoxia (in deep basins) during earlier natural warm climate phases, such as the Medieval Climate Anomaly. Under future IPCC scenarios of global warming, there is likely no improvement of bottom water conditions in the Baltic Sea. Thus, the measures already designed to produce a healthier Baltic Sea are insufficient in the long term. The interactions between climate change and anthropogenic impacts on the Baltic Sea should be considered in management, implementation of policy strategies in the Baltic Sea environmental issues, and adaptation to future climate change

Holocene variability in sea ice cover, primary production, and Pacific-Water inflow and climate change in the Chukchi and East Siberian Seas (Arctic Ocean)

In this study, we present new detailed biomarker-based sea ice records from two sediment cores recovered in the Chukchi Sea and the East Siberian Sea. These new biomarker data may provide new insights on processes controlling recent and past sea ice changes. The biomarker proxy records show (i) minimum sea ice extent during the Early Holocene, (ii) a prominent Mid-Holocene short-term high-amplitude variability in sea ice,primary production and Pacific-Water inflow, and (iii) significantly increased sea ice extent during the last ca.4.5k cal a BP. This Late Holocene trend in sea ice change in the Chukchi and East Siberian Seas seems to be contemporaneous with similar changes in sea ice extent recorded from other Arctic marginal seas. The main factors controlling the millennial variability in sea ice (and surface-water productivity) are probably changes in surface water and heat flow from the Pacific into the Arctic Ocean as well as the long-term decrease in summer insolation. The short-term centennial variability observed in the high-resolution Middle Holocene record is probably related to solar forcing. Our new data on Holocene sea ice variability may contribute to synoptic reconstructions of regional to global Holocene climate change based on terrestrial and marine archives