No description available.

This study investigates the potential military utility and key priorities of employing extra-large unmanned underwater vehicles (XLUUVs) in the complex and challenging environment of the Baltic Sea. Focusing on payload benefits, technological advancements, and military utility, the research employs a theoretical framework based on concept analysis, systems engineering and military utility. Data is collected and analyzed using a mixed-methods approach including literature review and scenario analysis. The findings suggest that XLUUVs could complement and extend existing defense systems in the Baltic Sea region, demonstrating proficiency in handling diverse missions with factors of flexibility, endurance, adaptability, and modular design. The study highlights the importance of further research and development in areas such as autonomy, communication technologies, and systems integration.

No description available.

Eutrophication is one of the major threats to the marine environment in the Baltic Sea. The human pressure on the sea by nutrient input from agriculture, industry, public sewage facility and small sewage treatment plants causes excessive algal blooms leading to oxygen depleted seabed and an ecosystem out of balance. The objective of this study is to investigate how local legitimacy and fairness is addressed in the multilevel and complex issue of reducing Baltic Sea eutrophication. The main results show that there is a great challenge and uncertainty in dealing with the problem of eutrophication. Furthermore, there is an unfair distribution of costs and responsibilities related to wastewater treatment in the municipal planning documents and nearly total exclusion of the individual property owners from participating in the decision-making processes related to the expansion plans for public sewage facility. This in turn risks the legitimacy and the democratic aspects of the plans. Previous studies related to public and simple sewage plants have investigated different issues related to the legislation and practical planning as possible reasons for a sluggish progress in the measures to reduce nutrient discharges to the sea. However, the fairness aspects and the participatory processes of the plans have not been studied. The implications of this study are to invite to a more inclusive and fair planning process with the use of alternative solutions to the compulsory expansion of public sewage facility. Modifications in the legislation to include economic instruments creating incentives for the property owners can be a way of increasing participation and thus the legitimacy of the system.

I denna artikel undersöker författarna hur lekfullhet och humor kan användas i en animation för att uppmärksamma miljöfrågor, med syftet att uppmuntra publiken till engagemang och diskussion. Teman som tas upp i artikeln är symbolism och hur det kan användas för att skapa en djupare mening med gestaltningar, olika metoder som uppmuntrar till kreativt arbete, samt de olika källor som undersökningen har baserats på. Undersökningen fokuserar på miljöförstöring i Östersjön, och hur försurning av havet kan gestaltas. Den resulterande gestaltningen som gjorts i samband med undersökningen är en stop-motion inspirerad animation målad i akvarell. / In this article, the authors explore how playfulness and humour can be used in animation to draw attention to environmental issues, with the aim of encouraging audience engagement and discussion. Themes addressed in the paper include symbolism and how it can be used to create deeper meaning in illustrations, different methods that encourage creative work, and the different sources on which the research was based. The research focuses on environmental degradation in the Baltic Sea, and how the acidification of the sea can be portrayed. The resulting artwork made in connection with the research is a stop-motion inspired animation painted in watercolour.

Carbon plays a major role in physical and biogeochemical processes in the atmosphere, the biosphere, and the ocean. CO2 and CH4 are two of the most common carbon-containing compounds in the atmosphere, also recognized as major greenhouse gases. The exchange of CO2 and CH4 between the ocean and the atmosphere is an essential part of the global carbon cycle. The exchange is controlled by the air–sea concentration gradient and by the efficiency of the transfer processes. The lack of knowledge about the forcing mechanisms affecting the exchange of these climate-relevant gases is a major source of uncertainty in the estimation of the global oceanic contributions. Quantifying and understanding the air–sea exchange processes is essential to constrain the estimates and to improve our knowledge about the current and future climate. In this thesis, the mechanisms controlling the air–sea gas exchange in the Baltic Sea are investigated. The viability of micrometeorological techniques for CH4 monitoring in a coastal environment is evaluated. One year of semi-continuous measurements of air–sea CH4 fluxes using eddy covariance measurements suggests that the method is useful for CH4 flux estimations in marine environments. The measurements allow long-term monitoring at high frequency rates, thus, capturing the temporal variability of the flux. The region off Gotland is a net source of CH4, with both the air–sea concentration gradient and the wind as controlling mechanisms. A sensitivity analysis of the gas transfer velocity is performed to evaluate the effect of the forcing mechanisms controlling the air–sea CO2 exchange in the Baltic Sea. This analysis shows that the spatio-temporal variability of CO2 fluxes is strongly modulated by water-side convection, precipitation, and surfactants. The effect of these factors is relevant both at regional and global scales, as they are not included in the current budget estimates.

The world's seas are without a doubt being changed by global warming, affecting all species, causing ecosystem changes. The overall low biodiversity in the Baltic Sea leads to sensitive unique qualities. Understanding how climate change in the Baltic Sea will affect key species is important to understanding how the Baltic Sea coastal environment will look in the future. Fucus vesiculosus, and Zostera marina, are key habitat building vegetation in the Baltic Sea, building up most of the canopies by the coasts on rocky and sandy bottoms. How are these species affected by climate change in the Baltic Sea? The result showed that both Fucus and Zostera growth is stimulated during most of the year with rising temperatures, but during summer heatwaves inhibit the plants, raising the mortality. Fucus will migrate more south, as the Baltic Sea will likely become fresher, and Zostera will continue to thrive if nutrients are reduced. Both species will experience die-offs during summer heatwaves. / Världens hav förändras utan tvekan av den globala uppvärmningen, vilket påverkar alla arter och leder till ekosystem förändringar. Den övergripande låga biologiska mångfalden i Östersjön leder till känsliga unika förhållanden. Att förstå hur klimatförändringarna i Östersjön kommer att påverka nyckelarter är viktigt för att förstå hur Östersjöns kustmiljö kommer att se ut i framtiden. Fucus vesiculosus och Zostera marina, är viktiga habitatsbildande växter i Östersjön, som bygger upp majoriteten av ekosystemen vid kusterna på steniga och sandiga bottnar. Hur påverkas dessa arter av klimatförändringar i Östersjön? Resultatet visade att tillväxten av både Fucus och Zostera stimuleras under större delen av året med stigande temperaturer, men under sommaren hämmar värmeböljor växterna, vilket ökar dödligheten. Huvudslutsatserna är att Fucus kommer att vandra mer söderut, eftersom Östersjön med största sannolikhet kommer att bli sötare från norr, och Zostera kommer fortsätta trivas om näringsmängden minskar. Båda arterna kommer drabbas av dödsfall under värmeböljor på sommaren.

No / Baltic Germans who were active on behalf of especially German minorities throughout Europe during the 1920s have already found some recognition in especially German-language studies. Now they are receiving a wider coverage. Two of these men, Werner Hasselblatt and Ewald Ammende, came from Estonia and played a part in the development of the cultural autonomy legislation enacted in 1925. Traditionally this has been counted a positive contribution to the management of Europe's minorities during the inter-war period. During the 1930s at the latest, however, both Hasselblatt and Ammende drifted towards German National Socialism. Through an investigation of the ideas of these men, this paper attempts to interpret lives which helped to create apparently progressive legislation in the 1920s, but which compromised with a dreadful political movement soon afterwards. What were the motives behind their actions?

No / This is an extended study of the achievement of cultural auonomty in Estonia (1925) and of attempts by national minoriites in Europe to promote minority rights internationally, not least by lobbying the League of Nations. / British Academy

Yes / A study of pottery vessel contents and use was undertaken in order to obtain information on food processed in Subneolithic and Neolithic vessels from Nida and Šventoji (3300–2400 cal BC). The aim is to assess pottery use during major changes in the coastal environment and in material culture. Bulk carbon and nitrogen isotope, lipid biomarker and compound specific carbon isotope analysis was undertaken on ‘foodcrusts’, charred deposits adhering to vessel surfaces, and absorbed residues from different vessel types. In addition, three archaeological seal bones were analysed for bulk collagen and compound specific carbon isotope analysis to establish collagen-lipid offsets to inform interpretation of the data. The results show that the majority of the vessels were used for processing aquatic products. At Nida the data suggest exploitation of freshwater resources and, in the later stages of occupation, dairying. Analysis of a small number of Subneolithic vessels from Šventoji produced results that are also consistent with processing of aquatic products. Other substances identified include Pinaceae sp. resin or tar and beeswax. These data demonstrate that identifying patterns in pottery use contributes to understanding Neolithisation processes.