An ocean dead zone is an area where there is not enough oxygen dissolved in the water to allow aquatic creatures to breath. To put it in perspective, imagine a person locked in a sealed chamber in which the level of oxygen is slowly but steadily decreased until they lie gasping for breath until they
Two hundred thousand miles (322,000 km) above the earth, the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) drifts in space, quietly âsniffingâ the interstellar wind that continuously streams into our solar system from far beyond. The probe is designed to detect minute traces of matter (electrically neutral atoms and molecules, know as interstellar material) that originated in supernovae
Geologists at the University of California, Riverside, have discovered chemical evidence that indicates Earthâs ancient oceans were not only oxygen-free, but also contained large quantities of hydrogen sulphide in some areas. âWe are the first to show that ample hydrogen sulfide in the ocean was possible this early in Earthâs history,â said Timothy Lyons, a
Earthâs oceans are teeming with life thanks to the oxygenated waters which allow that life to grow and thrive: just as animals on land need oxygen to survive, so too do the fish and mammals beneath the sea surface. However around 499 million years ago the oceans suffered an event which turned them into a
An international team of climate and ocean scientists, led by Wei-Jun Cai (U of Georgia, Athens), predicts that the âArctic Ocean basin will not become a large atmospheric CO2 sink under ice-free conditions.â Using data from a 2008 high-resolution survey of the entire Canada Basin, the team explains the complex âair-sea fluxâ and other reasons why sea-surface CO2 continues to increase.
How is it clear humans are causing global warming or climate change? Check out the image and explanations in this article to find out.
Phytoplanktonâtiny, marine plants that formthe basis of our oceansâ food chainâabsorb and sequester large amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere and generate half of the worldâs oxygen supply. Given such an important ecosystem service as this, one would hope that our oceansâ algae numbers stay highâŚbut, the results of a three year data analysis are anything but encouraging.
Itâs not only the Gulf of Mexico thatâs suffering from âdead zonesâ 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
