Article Title: Reviving Dead Zones
Author/Source: Laurence Mee
Dead zones are highly harzardous. Created through a process called eutrophication, an excess amount of nitrogen and phosphorus leads to an increased number of phytoplankton. They block sunlight from reaching the plants beneath them. Oxygen can only enter water by either photosynthesis or physical diffusion from the air. Without sunlight reaching the plants at the bottom of the ocean, more and more organisms die from the lack of oxygen, and the bacteria that break down dead organic matter use up the limited amount of oxygen. With an already low amount of it to begin with, oxygen becomes more scarce, turning into a dead zone. Dead zones have been increasingly becoming more common around the world. In order to restore these affected areas to their original state, we may have to lower nutrient levels to less than the original level were before.
After reading this article, I was concerned about what would happen if all the bodies of water on Earth turned into dead zones. What would that mean for us? If dead zones were to appear everywhere, the consequences would be severe; tons of decaying crabs, clams, fish, mussels; and an extreme imbalance in the food chain. We can't let that happen. It would destroy our ecosystems and our economy. We can prevent this if we keep too much nitrogen and phosphorus from entering water.
Author/Source: Laurence Mee
- About 60 million tons of benthic life between 1970 and 1980 died from hypoxia, which is when there isn't enough oxygen for organisms to survive
- Dead zones are created through a process called eutrophication; when a body of water has a mass amount of nitrogen and phosphorus, and phytoplankton growth accelerates, blocking the sunlight from reaching the plants below them
- Oxygen levels decrease when bacteria consume oxygen to break down the mass of organic matter that have died from eutrophication
- The sequence that has occurred in almost every dead zone examined by researchers is: eutrophication which leads to phytoplankton blooms, excess
bacterial activity at the bottom, oxygen depletion, and the death of existing plants
and animals - To restore the original environment, may have to lower nutrient levels to less than they were
Dead zones are highly harzardous. Created through a process called eutrophication, an excess amount of nitrogen and phosphorus leads to an increased number of phytoplankton. They block sunlight from reaching the plants beneath them. Oxygen can only enter water by either photosynthesis or physical diffusion from the air. Without sunlight reaching the plants at the bottom of the ocean, more and more organisms die from the lack of oxygen, and the bacteria that break down dead organic matter use up the limited amount of oxygen. With an already low amount of it to begin with, oxygen becomes more scarce, turning into a dead zone. Dead zones have been increasingly becoming more common around the world. In order to restore these affected areas to their original state, we may have to lower nutrient levels to less than the original level were before.
After reading this article, I was concerned about what would happen if all the bodies of water on Earth turned into dead zones. What would that mean for us? If dead zones were to appear everywhere, the consequences would be severe; tons of decaying crabs, clams, fish, mussels; and an extreme imbalance in the food chain. We can't let that happen. It would destroy our ecosystems and our economy. We can prevent this if we keep too much nitrogen and phosphorus from entering water.