The surface water temperature in the Baltic Sea has been growing as a consequence of broader changes of the Earth’s climate, which contributes to the proliferation of natural bacterioplankton and new types of bacteria, such as Vibrio vulnificus, in the region. This pathogenic bacterium finds optimal conditions for growth primarily in warm brackish waters. Places particularly vulnerable to these bacteria include shallow Baltic coastal waters where the proliferation of Vibrio strains increases in summer. The growing temperature of coastal waters boost this phenomenon, posing a serious threat to human health and the coastal Baltic tourism.
The BaltVib project implemented by marine microbiologists investigates the impact of the so-called “system engineers”, e.g. mussels, macroalgae, and seagrass, on the diversity and abundance of vibriosis. The research should help to develop strategies to mitigate the problem of excessive populations of vibriosis through nature-based solutions.
In addition to environmental and health issues, public awareness of the phenomena and future threats are equally important and these are also addressed in the project. The article presents results of a survey conducted on the Polish coast involving 140 respondents interviewed concerning their awareness of the increasing population of pathogenic vibriosis. The survey helped to diagnose how local residents perceive the threat to human health posed by Vibrio vulnificus now and in the future, as well as possible impacts these bacteria might have on economic use of the coastal waters. The survey also investigated the level of acceptance for various methods used to mitigate negative environmental changes.

Climate change and its consequences, including rising ocean temperature and sea level rise are well scientifically documented. The changes are especially severe for coastal communities, which are estimated to have reached c. 50% of the world’s population. Using an example of the Gulf of Gdansk region, which is of European importance, due to the presence of two major Baltic ports and global tourism, we explore, how sea related threats may affect the region and we analyse how the three major cities are prepared to these threats. The four city developmental strategies and an additional document, an “umbrella strategy” focusing on climate change threats do not consider sea level rise and more frequent storm surges as threats. The sea level rise is briefly discussed in the fourth document. The adaptation plan, an appendix to the document, mentions sea level rise, but the discussion of the problem is indirect and involves some examples of adaptation actions in loosely similar environmental conditions. The adaptation plan, in fact includes a list of possible threats, rather than a detailed discussion of the suggestions of the measures to be undertaken. For comparison, we present a multilevel approach, which is effectively run in the Port of Rotterdam and argue that such approach should be undertaken in the studied region. We conclude that despite years of education on climate change, the problem is still not recognised and is underrepresented in practical measures of the studied region. We also provide hints on how to overcome this situation.