Assessing Our Oceans

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Assessing Our Oceans
by ? last modified Mar 07, 2014

Much of the scientific research conducted today on marine environmental
protection focuses on studies about the condition of the continental
shelves. A workshop recently held at the IAEA Environment Laboratories
in Monaco provided an opportunity for marine experts to discuss recent
scientific findings on a range of open ocean pollution topics.

Members of the Task Team on Pollution of the Open Ocean, under the aegis
of the Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine
Protection (GESAMP), participated in the workshop which was held from 25
to 28 February 2014. Michail Angelidis of the IAEA Marine Environmental
Studies Laboratory (MESL) and Harmut Nies of the IAEA Radiometrics
Laboratory (RML) also joined the Task Team during the 4-day workshop.

At the workshop, the task team examined environmental assessments,
scientific reviews and the wider scientific literature for different
categories of contaminants. These included: carbon and ocean
acidification; persistent organic pollutants (POPs); nutrients, mercury
and other trace metals; radioactivity; marine debris; oil; and noise.

The team also highlighted information gaps and scientific uncertainties
that constrain assessments of particular substances and materials,
putting particular regard to their significance to human health and for
the marine environment of the open ocean.

Rick Boelens, Chairman of the GESAMP Task Team on Pollution of the Open
Ocean, highlighted the importance of the workshop, calling it an
excellent "opportunity to review conditions in the open oceans."

Assessing Our Oceans