Article**: Oceans and Wetlands.
Sea Wet: Editor's note
The Sea of Azov is a large shallow, intercontinental sea located between Russia and Ukraine, located in southeastern Europe. It is connected to the Black Sea by the Crimean Isthmus.
Oceanwetlands notes a new study published in the journal Aquatic Bioresources & Environment, which examines the impact of climate change on habitat conditions in the Azov Sea of Living, with a particular focus on salinity and continental runoff in the waters of the Sea of Azov. Both play a vital role in maintaining the ecological well-being of living aquatic resources and are undergoing significant changes. In order to help global environmental governance and provide Chinese scholars with reference for the latest research trends, the following information is compiled and shared for interested readers.
This article is 1400 words in total, and it takes about 3 minutes to read.
As climate change intensifies, the water environment of the Sea of Azov has become different, especially in terms of salinity and continental runoff. The Sea of Azov is home to many aquatic organisms, and changes in water salinity and continental runoff are directly related to the health of this ecosystem. Therefore, the goal of this study is to fully understand the current hydrometeorological situation of the Sea of Azov, as well as possible changes in the future, with a special focus on the impact of annual continental runoff on the salinity of the Sea of Azov.
Above: The position of the Sea of Azov on Earth. **google earth
The researchers used the Azniirkh database and observations from the Russian Federal Agency for Hydrometeorological and Environmental Monitoring (ROSHYDROMET) to cover the years from 1960 to 2020. They used mathematical statistics, analysis, charting, and analogy methods to analyze the data. The results of the study are mainly about the annual monitoring changes in the habitat of hydrological biological resources in the waters of the Sea of Azov. Through some preliminary calculations, the study also shows changes in the parameters of the sea balance equation that have not been covered by monitoring over the past 45 years. Moreover, scenarios for the future to 2030 are also considered, taking into account the most likely changes that a warming climate could cause on continental runoff and salinity in the Sea of Azov.
Above: Changes in annual runoff from the Don and Kuban rivers in 1952 to 2022, as well as continental runoff flowing into the Sea of Azov. *Zhukova S V, etc.
Above: Changes in the annual mean temperature of air in the Sea of Azov from 1976 to 2020, according to data from the Azov Sea coast meteorological station. *Zhukova S V, etc.
The study concludes that the current hydrometeorological system of the Sea of Azov has undergone significant changes, mainly by rising air and water temperatures, weakening wind activity, and decreasing continental runoff. Since 2006, long periods of low water levels have been observed during the formation of continental runoff. The combination of insufficient river runoff and increased water evaporation rates, among other factors, has led to an unprecedented increase in salinity in the Sea of Azov, with average annual salinity reaching record highs in 2021 (1497‰）。In the most likely scenario (60%), with the continuation of the period of low water and the injection of about 22km of continental runoff into the Sea of Azov, the average annual salinity of the Sea of Azov, including the Bay of Taganrog, could reach 15 040 , in the Sea of Azov itself (excluding the Taganrog Bay) the range of variation is 145 to 165‰。The study noted that 2021 could be a similar year in terms of salinity formation and its spatial distribution.
【Food for Thought】Learn and learnQ1: What substantive insights does the current study's comprehensive assessment of the relationship between salinity and continental runoff in the Sea of Azov provide for future aquatic resource management, taking into account climate change trends?
Q2: In view of the increasing trend of salinity in the waters of the Sea of Azov, how to more accurately and simulate the changes in salinity in the Sea of Azov in the future, and what are the specific implications for the impact on aquatic resources?
Q3: The study mentions the significant impact of climate and anthropogenic factors on the hydrometeorological system of the Azov Sea, so what kind of aquatic resource management strategies should be adopted in the context of the current environmental changes and how to control the negative impact of continental runoff on the water ecology?
Q4: The trend of salinity in the Sea of Azov is as high as 1497 , how has this level evolved compared to the past?How might future salinity increases affect the living aquatic resources of the Sea of Azov, especially for known fish and other aquatic organisms?In particular, for the record-high salinity of the Sea of Azov in 2021, will future changes under the most likely scenario (60% probability) in the study** require adjustments to existing fisheries policies and watershed management plans to adapt to possible new ecological conditions?
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Read the original article].
zhukova s v, mirzoyan a v, shishkin v m, et al. possible scenarios for the formation of the continental runoff and the salinity of the azov sea, taking into account the current and future trends in climate change[j]. 2023.