North Sea pollution dominates 75 years of research while climate change

A new systematic map of North Sea marine science has cataloged 3,356 studies published between January 1945 and December 2020, aiming to capture how researchers have examined five human-driven drivers of ecosystem change: direct exploitation of fish and seafood, sea-use change, climate change, pollution, and invasive alien species. The map, published in Environmental Evidence and led by Alexandra M. Blöcker, shows a major imbalance: pollution dominated the literature throughout the full 75-year period, reaching 85% of articles in 1968 and 94% in 1988. Interest in climate change rose later, from 4% in 1989 to 24% by 2020. The evidence is concentrated in the southern North Sea.