Sanderson, Hans, Czub, Michał, Jakacki, Jaromir, Koschinski, Sven, Tougaard, Jakob, Sveegaard, Signe, Frey, Torsten , Fauser, Patrik, Bełdowski, Jacek, Beck, Aaron J. , Pzyborski, Anna, Olejnik, Adam, Szturomski, Bogdan and Kicinski, Radoslaw (2023) Environmental impact of the explosion of the Nord Stream pipelines. Scientific Reports, 13 . Art.Nr. 19923. DOI 10.1038/s41598-023-47290-7.

Preview	Text s41598-023-47290-7.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0. Download (3MB) | Preview
	Text 41598_2023_47290_MOESM1_ESM.docx - Supplemental Material Available under License Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0. Download (775kB)

Abstract

Armed conflicts have, in addition to severe impacts on human lives and infrastructure, also impacts on the environment, which needs to be assessed and documented. On September the 26th 2022, unknown perpetrators deliberately ruptured the two gas pipelines Nord Stream 1 and 2 with four coordinated explosions near a major chemical munition dump site near the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. While the massive release of natural gas into atmosphere raised serious concerns concerning the contribution to climate change—this paper assesses the overlooked direct impact of the explosions on the marine ecosystem. Seals and porpoises within a radius of four km would be at high risk of being killed by the shockwave, while temporary impact on hearing would be expected up to 50 km away. As the Baltic Proper population of harbour porpoises ( Phocoena phocoena ) is critically endangered, the loss or serious injury of even a single individual is considered a significant impact on the population. The rupture moreover resulted in the resuspension of 250000 metric tons of heavily contaminated sediment from deep-sea sedimentary basin for over a week, resulting in unacceptable toxicological risks towards fish and other biota in 11 km 3 water in the area for more than a month.

Actions (login required)

View Item