ABSTRACT
Although people have lived on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea for thousands of years, over the past 100 years or so pollution levels have been rising at alarming rates, propelled by rapid population increase. By the 1970s the Mediterranean Sea had become a huge waste-bin, a receptacle for millions of tonnes of human and industrial waste, posing severe environmental problems in coastal and marine areas as well as a potential direct threat to inhabitants. Now, no longer is it possible to view the Mediterranean as an infinite resource – rather, it is necessary to look for ways and means to conserve and rehabilitate the sea.
