Zusammenfassungen der Poster

DILLHÖFER, Karim & BETHKE, Constantin, Kippenberg-Gymnasium Bremen, Germany

Would the icebergs have impeded the Titanic in 2050?
or
How to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions caused by shipping?

At present a world-wide discussion on the importance of air and road traffic as carbon dioxide polluters takes place. The role of shipping is thereby hardly taken into account. However, shipping contributes an almost twice as high amount of carbon dioxide as air traffic, thus having an even higher impact on global warming.

Our project presents new and alternative power sources. Our aim is to propose solutions to reduce the CO2 emissions of ships and therewith their impact on global warming.




 
GORKISCH, Marie-Louise & GÖBEL, Johanna, Ökumenisches Gymnasium zu Bremen, Germany

Offshore-Wind Park-Mariculture

Due to the constantly growing population of the world, agriculture and fishery already being at their limits, new sources of food production have to be found. The production of fish by aquaculture and its special branch, mariculture, is growing constantly.

In the German coastal region of the North Sea nearshore mariculture is currently hardly carried out because of complicated laws, conflicts of users and contamination. In order to avoid these problems, it is being discussed to develop mariculture in combination with offshore-wind parks.  By using the already existing infrastructure of these parks, there would be wide areas and better water as well as oxygen conditions. Furthermore new jobs could be created, also as an possible alternative for the struggling fishing industry, while the coastal region could be maintained as a local recreation area. However, only local species should be cultivated to avoid the introduction of non-native species into the ecosystem. Possible damage on the environment can also be caused by the use of chemicals or antibiotics. Wind parks as such might disturb the navigation of animals and also ships.

Provided that further research is done to study possible impacts and clear guidelines are defined, this special method of mariculture could present a desirable possibility for the North Sea as well as other coastal regions.


 
BRODDA, Ines, Ökumenisches Gymnasium zu Bremen, Germany

What could happen at home - A regional look on climate change

The effect of global warming caused by man-made CO2-Emissions is nowadays generally accepted as a fact. There are varying hypothesises about how much the climate will change. This project describes possible impacts for Western Europe with focus on the Northern German coastal region.

The melting of polar ice and glaciers with a consequent rise of the sea level will have severe impacts on the flat coastal areas. With regard to temperature two opposite effects are discussed: On the one hand, global warming will lead to an increase of mean temperatures in Europe with consequences also for the marine environment. Other hypothesises suggest that ocean currents could change and that e.g. the Gulf stream, the warm current that heats Western and Northern Europe, could change its current strength and position. This would at first lead to a decrease of temperatures in Europe.

The project aims at making clear how global warming can severely affect our home areas. It will be a prominent task to build higher and new dikes. However, these measures are insufficient. We propose that strict measures have to be taken, even on personal level.


 
BEHRENS, Katrin & LANGE, Anniek, Ökumenisches Gymnasium zu Bremen

Sea pollution caused by offshore drilling platforms

Every day 3 million tons of oil are released into the sea by shipping traffic, sewages and the offshore drilling platforms. Our project deals with the pollution of the sea caused by offshore drilling platforms.

About 5000 to 8000 km² of the floor of the North sea are polluted. In an area of 500 metres around a platform the biodiversity of species is highly limited compared to other areas. The harmful substances released by drilling activities have negative consequences for the whole food chain. Obviously, drilling companies do not sufficiently take into account endangered species.

For the future we suggest that the companies should support the use of renewable energies and that drilling activities should be strictly regulated or should not take place in sensitive marine areas.



 
SUHR, Simon & GRÖTICKE, Jan, Kippenberg-Gymnasium Bremen, Germany


Aquaculture and the resulting problems in Ecuador

Our project deals with industrial shrimp breeding in Ecuador and its subsequent environmental and social problems during the last forty years.

The main ecological problems are the destruction of mangroves and the eutrophication and pollution of the water. In addition there are social problems, e.g. the Ecuadorian population has hardly benefited from the huge production in their country.
We investigated the problems and discussed possible solutions which would combine the different interests of industry, local population and environmental protection. Though it seems to be very difficult to find solutions which are acceptable for all parties, yet we conclude that ecofarms are a more sustainable way of shrimp production.


 
SCHOPP, Anna & RUDOLF, Dominik. Ökumenisches Gymnasium zu Bremen,
Germany

Harbor Expansion versus Nature Protection – Is there a compromise ?

As container transport is increasing world-wide, new and bigger harbor facilities are planned along the coasts. The project investigates the conflicts between harbor development and nature protection by using the example of the new container terminal four (CT4) in Bremerhaven, Germany (North Sea).

The container terminal in Bremerhaven consists of four quays. In 2004, Bremerhaven started with the construction of the fourth quay which will be finished in the year 2008. By then, the container terminal in Bremerhaven with its 5 km length will be the largest in the world. It will be able to load and unload 15 container ships at the same time. However, there are a lot of adverse impacts of this port. With the construction of CT4 another part of the unique coastal environment in this area is lost, the noise of the port will affect the neighboring residential areas and water pollution from ships will increase.

The project discusses some ideas to solve such problems. For instance, working hours could be reduced from 24 to 18 or 20 hours. By means of better safety regulations, the risk of ship accidents could be minimized and pollution of the sea could be reduced. While container-shipping is very important for the world economy, the need of nature protection for our future lives is still insufficiently taken into account and needs more awareness.