-This picture shows the "dead zone" on the Gulf of Mexico. It stretches for thousands of miles along the coast. The red signifies the low-oxygen level (dead zone).
- Dead zones are areas in the water where the oxygen levels are very low and they keep on getting lower. Predictions have been made that the dead zone on the Gulf of Mexico could possibly develop into being 8,500 to 9,421 square miles this year. To get a better understanding of how large this zone is, it's about the size of Delaware and New Jersey merged together. The origin of the dead zone comes from the runoff that goes into the Mississippi river which includes sewage, fertilizers used for crops, chemicals from factories, car exhaust and animal waste. When the nitrate and phosphate from the runoff mix with the temperate freshwater of the Mississippi river, it tends to sit on top of the cooler saltwater in the Gulf. This blocks the oxygen from getting deeper into the water and when the nicer weather comes, algae grows on top of the water, but since there is no life in the dead zone to eat it, the algae sinks to the bottom which then sucks up oxygen while it dies. Even fisherman are finding fish that have abnormalities. The good thing about this is that it could be fixed. The Black Sea had the world's largest dead zone, but after using less fertilizer (since it got costly), the dead zone went away completely. To fix the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, people need to be more careful when using their fertilizers and to make sure that sewage and other chemicals aren't dumped into the river.
-I knew that the oil spill was a big issue when it came to the sea life in the Gulf of Mexico, but it's interesting to see that the spill isn't really the only cause of the lack of life in the water. I didn't really know about dead zones before and apparently they could be anywhere.
1. Why aren't people putting much effort into not polluting the Mississippi river?
2. Why aren't dead zones talked about more?
3. Could the expanding of the zone be put to a halt before it's too late?
-I never really knew much about dead zones or how much they could impact the environment. Dead zones cause harm to many ocean ecosystems which can cause a lot of problems for humans. I think it would be a great idea to use less fertilizer in Mexico considering how large the dead zone is. In my opinion there should be more attention drawn to this dead zone. I personally have never heard of it and I don't think many others have. If people were more aware of the situation I think that a lot more could be done about the issue.
ReplyDelete-I found a map released by NASA of all ocean dead zones. It has identified over 530 dead zones all over the world and an additional 228 over fertilized areas due to run off from farmland. The information has all been put up on a map that allows users to see what is happening where, including pictures and articles. http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/01/new-interactive-map-tracks-ocean-dead-zones.
-Are people in Mexico aware of the dead zone in their gulf?
I really didn't know that there were even dead zones. If i would have known about them I probably would have thought that they were from all of the oil spills in the gulf of Mexico. Its interesting to find out that they are runoffs from all over the country. I think people should put more effort into not polluting the Mississippi. Its a huge part of our nation and alot of people use that for not only business but also recreation. All of the pollutants are harming our wildlife not only in the river and near the gulf but in the habitats around them.
ReplyDeleteI found an article released by msnbc.com that says they spotted over 150 dead zones in the worlds oceans. It says the worlds dead zones have been increasing since 1970. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4624359/ns/us_news-environment/t/dead-zones-counted-oceans/
My question is that if people know what they are doing by dumping pollutants into the Mississippi.
This is a topic we will talk about in the hydrosphere unit, but it also does have a little to do with the nitrogen cycle since the excess fertilizer is causing the dead zones.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard or known much about dead zones since it is not discussed about on the media much. If this issue would be heard I think there would be more people trying to annihilate it. I thinks its incredible that by starting off small and harming organisms it results later to harm in populations and then communities which leads to a damaged ecosystem.This generation needs to start focusing on not polluting the earth. The article i read let out by Associated Press states that dead zones have been diminished by huricanes inthe past. Also it is every spring that fertilizers end up getting mixed into the mississippi and then move to the gulf. http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/06/15/forecast-predicts-biggest-gulf-dead-zone-ever/
ReplyDelete~Do you know when your in a dead zone?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI know what dead zones are because of the aftermath of the oil spill in the gulf. What I did not fully grasp was the affects dead zones really do have. I could tell you that teaching about dead zones would totally resolve the issue but I would be naive. I am speaking for most Americans when I say that we do not always directly relate knowledge we know to our actions. When I say that I really mean that we will not inconvenience ourselves to help our environment by carpooling or buying the new hybrid models. Money is a much bigger worry to people than polluting is in this day and age. I think that if these new hybrid models did not cost as much as they do than everyone would be driving around hybrids. I am for hybrids because cars are the main polluters I just feel like they have to be cheaper in order for a revolution to occur. A website I found interesting that analyzes the future of electric cars is as followed......http://www.hybridcars.com/fuels/will-electric-cars-rule-future-25049.html
ReplyDelete