The future of the Black Sea: More pollution in over half of the rivers.

Ambio

Water Systems and Global Change, Wageningen University & Research, Droevendaalsesteeg 3a, 6708 PB, Wageningen, The Netherlands.

Published: February 2023

AI Article Synopsis

  • The Black Sea region's population decline may impact river pollution, but a clear understanding of the relationship between population change, economic growth, and urbanization is essential.
  • Future projections indicate that more than half of the rivers will see increased pollution levels compared to 2010, particularly in scenarios with poor wastewater management.
  • Implementing advanced wastewater treatment could significantly reduce pollution by 68-98% by 2100, emphasizing the need for coordinated international efforts to achieve sustainability.

Article Abstract

The population in the Black Sea region is expected to decline in the future. However, a better understanding of how river pollution is affected by declining trends in population and increasing trends in economic developments and urbanization is needed. This study aims to quantify future trends in point-source emissions of nutrients, microplastics, Cryptosporidium, and triclosan to 107 rivers draining into the Black Sea. We apply a multi-pollutant model for 2010, 2050, and 2100. In the future, over half of the rivers will be more polluted than in 2010. The population in 74 sub-basins may drop by over 25% in our economic scenario with poor wastewater treatment. Over two-thirds of the people will live in cities and the economy may grow 9-fold in the region. Advanced wastewater treatment could minimize trade-offs between economy and pollution: our Sustainability scenario projects a 68-98% decline in point-source pollution by 2100. Making this future reality will require coordinated international efforts.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9453707PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13280-022-01780-6DOI Listing

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