Oceans Suffocating as Huge Dead Zones Quadruple Since 1950, Scientists Warn (theguardian.com)

Ocean dead zones with zero oxygen have quadrupled in size since 1950, scientists have warned, while the number of very low oxygen sites near coasts have multiplied tenfold. From a report: Most sea creatures cannot survive in these zones and current trends would lead to mass extinction in the long run, risking dire consequences for the hundreds of millions of people who depend on the sea. Climate change caused by fossil fuel burning is the cause of the large-scale deoxygenation, as warmer waters hold less oxygen. The coastal dead zones result from fertiliser and sewage running off the land and into the seas. The analysis, published in the journal Science, is the first comprehensive analysis of the areas and states: "Major extinction events in Earth's history have been associated with warm climates and oxygen-deficient oceans." Denise Breitburg, at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in the US and who led the analysis, said: "Under the current trajectory that is where we would be headed. But the consequences to humans of staying on that trajectory are so dire that it is hard to imagine we would go quite that far down that path." "This is a problem we can solve," Breitburg said. "Halting climate change requires a global effort, but even local actions can help with nutrient-driven oxygen decline." She pointed to recoveries in Chesapeake Bay in the US and the Thames river in the UK, where better farm and sewage practices led to dead zones disappearing.

Comments

Just sad how much worse...

[greenwow]

things have gotten since Trump took over. Just look at the climate change on the east coast. We have more than a dozen employees stuck at airports because of Trump. He is destroying our economy with this. Obama was correct that Trump will destroy the economy in his first year.

Read Again, you are the problem

[SuperKendall]

All I see is people pointing out real pollution (fertilizer runoff) is the problem, not climate change (and the article supports that).

Just like I have often pointed out CO2 production is not a problem, because it's contributing minimally to climate change and is not a pollutant - plants love it. But since all of the focus has been on reducing CO2 output, a lot of focus has been taken away from real pollution... like fertilizer runoff.

That's right, it's people like YOU that are directly responsible for the unchecked rise in real pollution and therefore the zero oxygen zones. That's why I get a little short with you warming alarmists, because you refuse to see the lasting harm you are doing to the environment. I am a true environmentalist, in that I care more about the environment than looking like I care about the environment.