Less polluting nutrients to the Baltic Sea as the goal of proposed manure management plan

All manure could be used as fertilizers in Kaliningrad region, Russia

7 August 2014

All the processed animal and poultry manure in Russia’s Kaliningrad Region could be used as an organic fertilizer in the region, a new study by HELCOM BASE Project concludes. Even if the animal or poultry stock would grow significantly, the produced manure will be in high demand as there is currently a shortage of organic fertilizers in the region. The report prepares for a long-term manure management plan which is ready for submission to the Ministry of Agriculture.

The study was motivated by the need to identify measures for reducing the flow of nutrients into the Baltic Sea. Experts estimate that the implementation of a manure handling plan for Kaliningrad Region will reduce the entry of nutrients into the environment from animal/poultry manure – nitrogen by 20–30% and phosphorus by 15%, which is equal to 1,100 tonnes and 210 tonnes per year, respectively. The pilot activity under BASE Project was conducted by the State Scientific Institution North-West Research Institute of Agricultural Engineering and Electrification (SZNIIMESH) of the Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences with the support of MTT Agrifood Research Finland.

Welcome to the environmentalresearchweb newswire. This week we bring you details of the Arctic river ice that's becoming less reliable, a rise in the amount of land growing crops for export, how local knowledge can minimize the impact of offshore wind farms, and more. Simply click on the headlines below to read the full stories.

The hidden costs of soybean production
6 Aug, 2014
Environmental footprints for deforestation, land, carbon, water and nutrients reveal resource use in Mato Grosso, Brazil

What's the value of afforestation and bioenergy carbon capture and storage?
5 Aug, 2014
Adding forest requires incentive of just $6 per tonne of carbon dioxide while bioenergy CCS needs $165

Climate change could cause crop-yield slowdown
4 Aug, 2014
Scientists assess risk of "getting caught with our plants down"

How to stop corn price blips as climate changes
1 Aug, 2014
Renewable Fuel Standard boosts corn price volatility while free trade could reduce it, study finds.

Researchers tackle link between climate change and public health
31 Jul, 2014
Australian Academy of Science brings experts together to map out effects global warming on extreme weather events, infectious disease and food security (from the Guardian)

Welcome to the environmentalresearchweb newswire. This week we bring you details of the Arctic river ice that's becoming less reliable, a rise in the amount of land growing crops for export, how local knowledge can minimize the impact of offshore wind farms, and more. Simply click on the headlines below to read the full stories.

City-grown vegetables could feed urban dwellers
30 Jul, 2014
On average, just one-third of cultivatable urban land could meet residents' veg needs

Understanding changes in precipitation
29 Jul, 2014
Simple energy balance model offers surprisingly good results

Environmental research round-up
28 Jul, 2014
Highlights from Environmental Research Letters (ERL), including biorefineries, African wildfires and surface darkening, farming in the Holocene, gas carbon footprint, and more.

How has water availability for growing maize in Africa changed?
25 Jul, 2014
Southern Africa and some Sahelian countries benefiting but Tanzania and Malawi have seen less water

No hiatus for temperature extremes
24 Jul, 2014
Unlike average temperatures, the rate of increase of extremes has not slowed over the last 15 years

Welcome to the environmentalresearchweb newswire. This week we bring you details of the Arctic river ice that's becoming less reliable, a rise in the amount of land growing crops for export, how local knowledge can minimize the impact of offshore wind farms, and more. Simply click on the headlines below to read the full stories.

Giving up beef will reduce carbon footprint more than cars, says expert
23 Jul, 2014
Study shows red meat dwarfs others for environmental impact, using 28 times more land and 11 times water for pork or chicken

Shale gas could emit as much as coal
22 Jul, 2014
Lifecycle assessment reveals production is key to greenhouse emissions of unconventional gas.

Charging up with jumping droplets
21 Jul, 2014
Energy-harvesting device taps into atmospheric humidity.

The six countries that could change the future of food production
18 Jul, 2014
Study reveals “leverage points” where a little action could have a big impact on the world’s food security and sustainability

Solar variation has little impact on cloud nuclei
17 Jul, 2014
Is effect enough to explain link between Sun's 11-year activity cycle and temperature variations?

Report released on methods for spotting alien species in Baltic ports

15 July 2014

HELCOM has today released a report on alien species transported via ships’ ballast water that threaten the sensitive Baltic ecosystem and may also have negative impacts to the economy and human health. The report is the final outcome of HELCOM ALIENS 3 project (2012–2013) which further tested and proposed improvements to the joint HELCOM-OSPAR sampling protocol, specifying methods and means for spotting marine alien species in ports. The project has also updated the related online port survey database and risk assessment tool, shared with the North-East Atlantic marine environment protection commission OSPAR, which went live last week.

Both the sampling protocol and the online tool were adopted by the coastal countries of the Baltic Sea in 2013, as part of the joint harmonised procedure on granting exemptions for ballast water treatment provisions of the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ship’s Ballast Water and Sediments (BWM Convention) of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) in the combined HELCOM and OSPAR marine area.

Welcome to the environmentalresearchweb newswire. This week we bring you details of the Arctic river ice that's becoming less reliable, a rise in the amount of land growing crops for export, how local knowledge can minimize the impact of offshore wind farms, and more. Simply click on the headlines below to read the full stories.

How to cut risk of carbon capture and storage causing an earthquake
16 Jul, 2014
Mapping of geological faults and monitoring during injection of carbon dioxide could reduce risk of seismic activity arising from CCS, comparison with wastewater injection reveals

Biochar helps soil microbes cope with drought
15 Jul, 2014
Carbon-storage mechanism also boosts resilience of bacteria and fungi

New model predicts organic matter content of sea spray
11 Jul, 2014
Finding could help climate modellers by improving knowledge of aerosol properties

How can new power plants in western US find enough water?
10 Jul, 2014
Researchers map water availability using five different sources, including wastewater and brackish water

A new study of St. Petersburg waste water helps to manage microplastics

26 June 2014

new study made in St. Petersburg, Russia, has found that the waste water treatment process reduces effectively the amount of micro-sized plastics in waste water. However, it is also possible that the waste water treatment plants themselves constitute a point source of microplastic litter into the Baltic Sea aquatic environment. Microplastic litter is a growing concern; it harms the coastal and marine environments ecologically, economically as well as socially.

Public and scientific interest in microplastic waste in marine environment has increased considerably in recent years, but relatively little is known about the sources of these fragments less than 5mm in size. The EU-funded HELCOM BASE project commissioned the study from Helsinki Region Environmental Services Authority (HSY) and the State Unitary Enterprise “Vodokanal of St. Petersburg”. HSY has developed a microplastic sampling method targeted at waste water and now applied in the joint study. One of the results of the research project is the transfer of knowledge of the procedures and methodology for studying microplastics in this context. Thanks to this successful cooperation the Vodokanal of St. Petersburg will be able to continue microplastic research independently.

HELCOM inspires regional discussions on maritime spatial planning data

18 June 2014

New approaches for sharing and creating data on maritime spatial planning (MSP) have been discussed by the representatives of organizations and initiatives in the Baltic Sea region in a targeted session at this week’s Baltic Maritime Spatial Planning Forum in Riga, Latvia. The session was moderated by Project Coordinator Manuel Frias from HELCOM Secretariat.

“There is still much to do in the field of regional data exchange concerning the Baltic Sea even if this activity has been going on for over 100 years, and within HELCOM since the last 40 years. Today’s discussions show that the approach of HELCOM of favouring links to the original data providers via Web Map Service (WMS) and other GIS software tools improves the flow of MSP data in the Baltic Sea area. This approach helps to avoid any outdated data, a risk when copying data to a centralized database,” says Frias.

Welcome to the environmentalresearchweb newswire. This week we bring you details of the Arctic river ice that's becoming less reliable, a rise in the amount of land growing crops for export, how local knowledge can minimize the impact of offshore wind farms, and more. Simply click on the headlines below to read the full stories.

Crops might be hotter than weather stations show
11 Jun, 2014
Irrigation could help prevent heat stress and yield drop in crops like wheat and rye

Clear winter skies help summer sea ice stay
10 Jun, 2014
Did lack of cloud lead to 2013 recovery in extent of Arctic summer sea ice?

Environmental research round-up
9 Jun, 2014
Highlights from Environmental Research Letters (ERL), including boosting Australian crop yields, estimating oil spill impact in the Gulf of St Lawrence, ancient organic carbon in Alaskan glaciers, forest response to warming, and boreal peatlands.

Big waves cause trouble for sea ice
6 Jun, 2014
Finding could improve climate models of sea ice in Arctic and Antarctic

UK summer flash floods to become more frequent, study shows
5 Jun, 2014
Met Office and Newcastle University study is first to draw direct link between climate change and rise in summer downpours (from the Guardian)

Clean up of spills in the Baltic Sea practiced in international exercise

12 June 2014

Seventeen oil response vessels from eight Baltic Sea coastal countries and institutions participated in HELCOM’s international response exercise ‘Balex Delta 2014’ yesterday in Ventspils, Latvia. The annual exercise, carried out 25 years in a row, is of vital importance to keep up and improve skills on joint prevention of major damage from oil spills in the sea as well as on the shore of the HELCOM Contracting Parties, consisting of all the nine coastal Baltic States and the EU.

The participating vessels, divided into four teams under the lead of the superior on scene commander Lt Sg Nauris Lakševics on-board the Latvian vessel “Varonis”, exercised laying out booms, operational formations, communication and other operational tasks at sea off the town of Ventspils. At the same time an exercise on the shore took place to rehearse response in a situation when the oil has reached the shore.

The operations were carried out in mild wind and wave conditions but visibility was at times limited due to dense fog in the area. Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden contributed to the exercise this year along with the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) representing the European Union.