Key message
Annual emissions of nitrogen oxides and annual emissions of ammonia from the HELCOM Contracting Parties are lower in 2001 than in 1991.
Assessment
Emissions from outside the Baltic Sea region add to the nitrogen loads entering the Baltic, as do emissions from the ships. In 1990 emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from international shipping traffic were estimated to account for approximately 10-20% of the total nitrogen deposition entering the Baltic Sea. No estimates are currently available for trends in these emissions.
Time series of nitrogen oxides, ammonia and total nitrogen annual emissions in the period 1991 – 2001 are shown, for all HELCOM Contracting Parties, in Figure 1. For most of the countries, no clear temporal pattern can be seen in the period 1991 – 2001. Taking into account lack of information about the emissions from the international ship traffic, it is not possible to detect significant reduction trend for the emissions from the Baltic Sea region in the years 1991 – 2001.
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Figure 1. Map of annual atmospheric emissions of nitrogen oxides, ammonia and total nitrogen from individual HELCOM Contracting Parties in the period 1991 – 2001. Units: ktonnes/yr.
Note: Different scales have been used for the various countries. The data cover emissions from all countries, except for Russia, where only emissions from the area covered by EMEP are included.
In all HELCOM Contracting Parties emissions are lower in 2001 than in 1991 with the most significant drop of nitrogen oxides emissions in Denmark – 33%. Monotone reduction, in the considered period, can be noticed in Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Poland, whereas some ups and downs are visible in emissions from Russian Federation, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
Emissions of nitrogen oxides from the international ship traffic on the Baltic Sea are not shown in Figure 1 because they are not available for the period 1991 – 2001. Available annual ship emissions in 1990 are of the same order as emissions from Denmark for the same year.
Also for ammonia, emissions in all HELCOM Contracting Parties are lower in 2001 than in 1991, however, differences are smaller than in the case of nitrogen oxides.
Last update 20 November 2003
Helsinki Commission
