Naslov
Under the blue carpet

Autori
Pelikan, Jadranka

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, sažetak, znanstveni

Izvornik
Sociology at Sea. Culture, Economy and Society in a Maritime Perspective / Cocco, Emilio ; Tonković, Željka - Zadar : Sveučilište u Zadru, Odjel za sociologiju, 2013, 51-52

Skup
Sociology at Sea. Culture, Economy and Society in a Maritime Perspective

Mjesto i datum
Zadar, Hrvatska, 27.09.2013. - 29.09.2013

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
marine pollution; mussels; real-time response monitoring; sustainable development planning; alternative scenario

Sažetak
The world coastal population is about 3 billion people implementing various social and economic activities with significant impact on marine environment. The consequences of marine resources endangering and destruction can create a long-term impact on the economy and population of the Adriatic in various ways. By continuation of pollution catch and production of sea food could become questionable in a future. Consequently, according to the research, there will be a decrease of economic activities, a lack of food supply for the growing population and eventually depopulation will happen - a possible scenario of unwanted events. The coastal areas growth and development planning conducted by local and/or regional governments are aimed at increasing economic activities, employment and attracting capital. Although the concept of sustainable development imbues many of adopted strategic documents, it really did not come to life because it subjugates nature and environment to economic and social benefits of man. Since it does not allow ecosystems an equal status and protection of their interest one cannot say that it is sustainable way of development. In recent years, an additional danger turns up on the horizon - sea temperature increase. Studies have shown that climate change and global warming have a tendency of sea acidification increase as well as the solubility of deposited metal compounds on the Adriatic seabed. Therefore, the study was conducted in the laboratory conditions on the adverse effects of salts of heavy metals and high temperatures of sea water to mussels exposed as test organisms. Method for monitoring of organisms’ behaviour was a real-time monitoring of opening and closing valve based on the Hall sensor system. The indicators monitored were tolerance expressed in time, dynamics of opening/closing and the organisms’ ability to regenerate. The results showed that marine organisms exposed to changing environmental conditions have the ability to tolerate the harmful effects to a certain level, after which visible effects appear. The dynamics of the opening and closing valves striving to remove toxins from the immediate environment and body was expressed as number of clicks per hour. Regeneration ability of exposed organisms is a function of the concentration of the toxic substance, exposure time and sea temperature. By increase of the temperature of sea water there is an increased toxicity of pollutants and significantly lower regeneration of tested organisms. Having in mind the capacity of mussels to react to changed conditions in the environment in real-time response, it is possible to establish a continuous monitoring system which can inform regional and local governments to timely adapt development policies. The trends of industrialization should cede the trends of knowledge, changing paradigms and raising social responsibility for actions in marine environment. Therefore, new development policies should reduce pressure on marine ecosystems by: (1) creating practical tools to support the development of innovative solutions and new technologies aimed at reduction of emissions of harmful substances into marine environment and harmless clean-up ; (2) organising continuous bio-monitoring in marine and freshwater ecosystems ; (3) changing the mode and intensity of industrial production, replacing environmentally harmful substances used in industrial processes, with new ones, harmless to marine ecosystems ; and introduction of new, environmentally friendly products ; (4) including alternative “what-if “scenarios of local and regional development ; (5) establishing protected areas of marine biodiversity ; (6) taking into consideration the needs of marine ecosystems not just the people needs ; (7) afforestation of coastal areas with species able to absorb pollution from its environment. The worldwide attention is focused on climate change and global warming but adverse impact of human activities to marine environment have not disappeared.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Sociologija

POVEZANOST RADA