Context: U.K. Prime Minister recently backed plans for new fossil fuel drilling off Britain’s coast.
About North Sea
- North Sea, shallow, northeastern arm of the Atlantic Ocean, located between the British Isles and the mainland of northwestern Europe.
- The sea is bordered by the island of Great Britain to the southwest and west, the Orkney and Shetland islands to the northwest, Norway to the northeast, Denmark to the east, Germany and the Netherlands to the southeast, and Belgium and France to the south.
- It is connected to the Atlantic by the Strait of Dover and the English Channel and opens directly onto the ocean between the Orkney and Shetland islands and between the Shetland Islands and Norway.
- The Skagerrak, an eastward extension of the North Sea between Norway and Denmark, connects the North and Baltic seas via the Kattegat and the Danish straits.
- The North Sea waters are affected by the warm North Atlantic Current, which moves northward along the western side of the British Isles and enters the Norwegian Sea.
- The North Sea has long been important as one of Europe’s most productive fisheries.
- It also serves as a prominent shipping zone among European countries and between Europe and the Middle East.
- The extensive reserves of petroleum and natural gas have been discovered beneath the seafloor.
