ADANA/MERSIN - Under project "SESAME", 48 institutes from 10 countries, including Turkey, carry out a study to assess changes in the ecosystem of seas in southern Europe during the last 50 years and in the future five decades.
Prof. Emin Ozsoy of the Turkish Middle East Technical University (METU) told A.A correspondent on Friday that, "SESAME (Southern Europe Seas: Assessing and Modelling of Ecosystems changes" is an integrated Project of the European Union (EU). This project, which took start in 2007, will continue for 4 years. More than 40 institutions from Israel, Greece, France, Tunisia, Italy, Romania, Russia, Bulgaria, Spain and Turkey contribute to this project."
Prof. Ozsoy said the first stage of this year`s studies has been concluded, "studies carried out in the past period have revealed that some changes occurred in the ecosystem and traces of negative developments would get deepened," he said.
"As the changes occur very slowly, people can hardly notice them. Scientific examinations reveal the changes. Global warming and changes caused by environmental pollution indicate negative developments. Fish species diminish, and some species totally vanished. Those are not positive messages to us for future."
The general scientific objectives of SESAME IP, supported by the European Commission, are to assess and predict changes in the Mediterranean and Black Sea ecosystems as well as changes in the ability of these ecosystems to provide goods and services.
SESAME will also study the effect of the ecosystem variability on key goods and services with high societal importance like tourism, fisheries, ecosystem stability through conservation of biodiversity and mitigation of climate change through carbon sequestration in water and sediments. The innovative character of SESAME is reflected in the close merging of economic and natural sciences to study the changes in the western and eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea within the period from 50 years in the past to 50 years in the future.
(AY-MS)