Article Title: Reviving Dead Zones
Author/Source: Laurence Mee
Dead zones have become more common and are very hazardous. They form through a process called eutrophication, Which is when an excess amount of nitrogen and phosphorous enters the ocean and leads to an increased number of plankton. The increase number of plankton blocks sunlight from reaching the plants that grow under it. Which only allows oxygen to enter the water through physical diffusion from the air and photosynthesis. Since sunlight isn't reaching the plants at the bottom of the ocean, more organisms die from the lack of oxygen and sunlight which decreases the oxygen levels even lower because there are no organisms that can oxygenate the water. When the oxygen levels are so low, it is a dead zone.
After reading the article it made me wonder how much we have to sacrifice to limit the amount of nitrogen and phosphorous we dispose in our oceans. Would our way of life be totally different? If more dead zones were to appear, there would be an imbalance in our food chain, and there would be even more decaying organisms in our oceans causing the oxygen levels to lower even more. Our ecosystems and economy would be destroyed.
Author/Source: Laurence Mee
- Dead zones created through eutrophication; when the amount of nitrogen and phosphorous causes plankton growth to accelerate and eventually there is so much plankton that it blocks the sunlight.
- Main culprits of dead zones are urban and industrial waste water, agricultural runoff and atmospheric transport.
- Oxygen levels decrease when bacteria consume oxygen to break down the mass of organic matter that have died from eutrophication
- About 60 million tons of benthic life between 1970 and 1980 died from hypoxia, which is when there isn't enough oxygen for organisms to survive
Dead zones have become more common and are very hazardous. They form through a process called eutrophication, Which is when an excess amount of nitrogen and phosphorous enters the ocean and leads to an increased number of plankton. The increase number of plankton blocks sunlight from reaching the plants that grow under it. Which only allows oxygen to enter the water through physical diffusion from the air and photosynthesis. Since sunlight isn't reaching the plants at the bottom of the ocean, more organisms die from the lack of oxygen and sunlight which decreases the oxygen levels even lower because there are no organisms that can oxygenate the water. When the oxygen levels are so low, it is a dead zone.
After reading the article it made me wonder how much we have to sacrifice to limit the amount of nitrogen and phosphorous we dispose in our oceans. Would our way of life be totally different? If more dead zones were to appear, there would be an imbalance in our food chain, and there would be even more decaying organisms in our oceans causing the oxygen levels to lower even more. Our ecosystems and economy would be destroyed.