Oceanic Dead Zones Continue to Spread
Thursday, August 28, 2008 - 11:42
in Earth & Climate
More bad news for the world's oceans: Dead zones--areas of bottom waters too oxygen depleted to support most ocean life--are spreading, dotting nearly the entire east and south coasts of the U.S. as well as several west coast river outlets.According to a new study in Science, the rest of the world fares no better--there are now 405 identified dead zones worldwide, up from 49 in the 1960s--and the world's largest dead zone remains the Baltic Sea, whose bottom waters now lack oxygen year-round. [More]