Basic Biology of Dead Ocean
It's not complicated. We know what causes it.
Nitrogen goes on our fields as fertilizer. Twenty percent is taken up by crops. The rest washes into the creek, the river, the bay, the ocean. Phytoplanton (algae, diatoms, etc) in the upper waters thrive on the excess fertilizer. They live, die, sink to the bottom of the ocean. Bacteria gobble up their remains and use oxygen in huge quantities in the chemistry of decomposition. There isn't enough oxygen left for anything else. Voila. A "Dead Zone" (See satellite Images this link). Oh well. What's a little bit of ocean bottom.
Stay tuned. This is not a good thing. This is another product of human industry that we will avoid facing until it is too late to repair the damage. Brinksmanship and beyond. States along the Rhine have cut nitrogen effluents by 37%. We could do the same. We won't.
Comments
I shudder to think what our environment will be like just 5 to 10 years from now at the current rate of destruction. I know next to nothing about the ocean, but the forests I live in are dying rapidly with seemingly no concern from the government or general public. Almost all the hemlocks in the National Park now are a pale green, soon to be nothing but dead stags. The EPA (since 2003) is now blaming the terrible ozone pollution on the oak trees instead of the power plants and cars. The oak trees will not take this accusation standing up however, they will be leaving us also it appears. See this article: http://www.griztrax.net/gtforum/messages/21.html.
Forgive my ranting. Somehow the general public must be made to realize the total cost of our lifestyle choices, even if it means less fertile crops and higher power bills.
Posted by: fletch | March 29, 2004 7:04 AM
Another aspect of the issue is that 50 years ago, we felt that world hunger and millions dying from hunger should be addressed. The solution that we chose is hastening the end of the oceans. We learned to grow more crops per acre and developed better strains of wheat, etc. Why in the world are we, in the U.S., so reluctant to attack from another angle? Those of us in the industrial world (for the most part) limit our own population (except for imports, of course), but refuse to allow our foreign aid to be used for population control. Makes no sense to me!
Posted by: Cop Car | March 29, 2004 7:53 AM
I have been raising my arms in despair for a long time, but now in my desperation I say bring it on, whatever it is that awaits us.
Posted by: Philip | March 29, 2004 12:22 PM
I was going to highlight this Dead Zone thing as a follow-up to my March 27th post, "Sixth Mass Extinction," but now I won't bother. Thanks for stroking this subject. The subject is so huge, tragic and intimidating that it boggles the mind and leaves people feeling helpless. If we can't get the government to stop waste and abuse, how can we stop humanity from killing off most of the planet? Hammering the topic on our blog sites is something, but is there or isn't there anything else effective individuals can do?
Posted by: Denny | March 29, 2004 3:13 PM