Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Seasonal dead zones are annually occurring, typically in warm months of summer and autumn. Diel cycling hypoxia is a specific seasonal dead zone that only becomes hypoxic during the night; The type of dead zone can, in some ways, be categorized by the time required for the water to return to full health.
Red circles show the location and size of many dead zones (in 2008). Black dots show dead zones of unknown size. The size and number of marine dead zones—areas where the deep water is so low in dissolved oxygen that sea creatures cannot survive (except for some specialized bacteria)—have grown in the past half-century. [19]
Dead zones are hypoxic, meaning the water has very low levels of dissolved oxygen. This kills off marine life or forces it to leave the area, removing life from the area and giving it the name dead zone. Hypoxic zones or dead zones can occur naturally, but nutrient pollution from human activity has turned this natural process into an ...
A 'dead zone' off the Gulf coast is larger than NOAA predicted. The massive area poses danger to marine life, and recovery could take decades. A 'dead zone' is growing in the Gulf of Mexico.
Every spring, an area appears when the water doesn't have enough oxygen to support fish and other marine life. The Gulf of Mexico's 'dead zone' is the biggest on record Skip to main content
The ultimate cause of hypoxia is excess nutrient loading from human activities causing algal blooms. The blooms sink to the bottom and use oxygen to decompose at a rate faster than it can be added back into the system through the physical processes of mixing. The lack of oxygen kills bottom-living organisms and creates dead zones.
To map where oxygen could be low in the ocean as temperatures rise, a study looked back to the Pliocene, 2.6 million to 5.3 million years ago.
Marine mammals in this region will face double jeopardy from both human activities (e.g., marine traffic, pollution and offshore oil and gas development) and global warming, with potential additive or synergetic effects. As a result, these ecosystems face irreversible consequences for marine ecosystem functioning. [109]