It’s not only the Gulf of Mexico that’s suffering from “dead zones” caused by excess nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus used as fertilizers.
Marine dead zones are spreading in the Baltic sea, and that could cause the entire ecosystem to collapse for lack of oxygen. Dire warnings from Lasse Gustavsson, Swedish head of the World Wildlife Funds branch in Sweden.
As excess algae and other organisms die and sink to the bottom, decomposition takes place and all available oxygen is consumed by bacteria in a process called eutrophication.
The WWF says the dead zones around the world have increased from 44 in 1995 to 269, covering a total of some 27,000 square miles. 10 of those dead zones are located in the Baltic Sea alone.
Since the Baltic is a semi-enclosed body of water, it takes longer to flush out toxic and other harmful substances, putting it at greater risk of ecosystem collapse.
Officals are demanding a reduction of emissions, especially from agricultural areas around the sea.
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Floodwaters to Increase Mexican Gulf Dead Zone
Image Credit: Scanpix
Source: The Local
Max Lindberg
My home state is Illinois, and my hometown a little railroad/farming community named Galesburg.We lived on a small farm during my high school years and I became very aware of nature and it's wonders. I loved the out of doors, working with animals, plowing fields and harvesting crops. Those were very good years.After a stint in the Army during the Korean war my broadcasting career took off at the local radio station, a 250 watt "teapot" as it was called in those days. My first job was as an engineer, then the ham came out and I became an announcer/newsman, graduating after several years to a larger market and a stint as a TV journalist/photographer. Cold, wet weather led me to the southwest where I've lived for most of the last 40 years, with a couple of years out to have fun working as a private investigator in San Francisco, and a few years working in Las Vegas hotels and casinos. In all, its been a real ride.After retiring a few years back I became fascinated with the efforts being made to find alternative energy sources. I've watched our environment deteriorate during my lifetime, and now it's my chance to join the chorus of intelligent and caring individuals making a difference one day at a time.