Articles

Over the past 20–30 years, Norway has done a great deal to reduce discharges of nutrients from agriculture, municipal waste water treatment and industry. Similar steps have been taken in much of the rest of Europe, and these also benefit Norway.

Norwegian coastal waters can be divided into four main areas: the Skagerrak, the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea, with different levels of nutrient inputs.

Eutrophication in coastal waters and fjords in Norway is caused by discharges of nutrients from fish farming, runoff from agricultural areas, and inputs from industry and municipal waste water treatment. 

The main sources of radioactive contamination in Norway have until now been the fallout after nuclear testing in the 1950s and 1960s, Western European reprocessing facilities for spent nuclear fuel and fallout from the Chernobyl accident in 1986.

The Climate and Pollution Agency has organised surveys of polluted locations along the Norwegian coast. The Environmental Departments at the County Governor's offices are responsible for working out county action plans for contaminated sediments. 

Pollutants are transported to marine areas from a number of different sources. High levels of hazardous substances in some fjords and harbours are mainly the result of earlier industrial discharges. The use of chemical pesticides in the agricultural sector can also play a part.

A number of the hazardous substances found in coastal areas are very persistent, which means that they break down very slowly in the environment. Some, such as PCBs and dioxins, can cause damage even in small concentrations.

More than 20 years of monitoring hazardous substances along the Norwegian coast has provided a good overview of the content of contaminants in fish, shellfish and seabed sediments.

In broad terms, habitats in the ocean can be split in two, the seabed and the water column. 

The Svalbard archipelago is located in the High Arctic between 74° and 81° north and 10° and 35° east. Two thirds of the islands are covered with ice and snow all year round.