Visions for the North Sea: the societal dilemma behind specifying good environmental status.

We augment discussions about the Good Environmental Status of the North Sea by developing two extreme visions and assessing their societal benefits. One vision ('Then') assumes restoration of benthic functioning; we contend that trawling had already degraded the southern North Sea a century ago. Available information is used to speculate about benthic functioning in a relatively undisturbed southern North Sea.

Megacities and large urban agglomerations in the coastal zone: interactions between atmosphere, land, and marine ecosystems.

Megacities are not only important drivers for socio-economic development but also sources of environmental challenges. Many megacities and large urban agglomerations are located in the coastal zone where land, atmosphere, and ocean meet, posing multiple environmental challenges which we consider here. The atmospheric flow around megacities is complicated by urban heat island effects and topographic flows and sea breezes and influences air pollution and human health.

Nutrient budgets for European seas: a measure of the effectiveness of nutrient reduction policies.

Socio-economic development in Europe has exerted increasing pressure on the marine environment. Eutrophication, caused by nutrient enrichment, is evident in regions of all European seas. Its severity varies but has, in places, adversely impacted socio-economic activities.

How good is good? Human values and Europe's proposed Marine Strategy Directive.

The adoption of the proposed European Marine Strategy Directive is an opportunity for a comprehensive policy for protecting, improving and sustainably using Europe's environmentally degraded seas. It calls for an ecosystem-based approach to management where humans are regarded as a key system component. Although the proposed wording has been the subject of fierce debate, the central policy goal remains achieving "Good Environmental Status".

Assessing the impact of pollution on aquatic systems at a global and regional level.

In developing a methodology for the ongoing Global International Waters Assessment, major gaps have become apparent in our ability to make comparative assessments of pollution. A pragmatic impacts scoping methodology has been developed and tested. A more effective assessment protocol however, requires a better knowledge of the relationship between pollution sources and biological effects with less reliance on chemical monitoring.