Space Support for the Marine Environment

Many different human activities on land and at sea cause pressures on Europe’s seas. A European Environment Agency’s (EEA) briefing, published in December 2020, shows that these pressures have now reached the outermost sea areas and the deepest seafloor. Human activities affect negatively 93 % of Europe’s sea area

According to the EEA briefing, the main pressures, including pollution, loss of habitats and disturbance from demersal fisheries that are most intensive along the coast and in the shelf areas. Climate change adds to the concerns over the resilience of marine ecosystems.

The growth of the EU’s maritime economy is leading to increased competition for marine space and resources. For human activities on land and sea to be sustainable, they need to be decoupled from the degradation of marine ecosystems, the EEA briefing states.

Effects of human activity in the European Marine Environment (source: EEA 2020)

Open Campus Webinar on Space for Marine Environment: 13 January 2021

To learn more and discuss the role of Earth Observation in the Marine Environment, Eurisy and dotSpace are organising another FREE Open Campus webinar, dedicated to this topic, on 13 January 2021. These monthly webinars focus on Space Opportunities for Climate Challenges, sharing news, events, and funding calls, while bringing in experts from government, education and the industry to present ideas, best practices, opportunities and solutions.