Due to the potential dangers of dead zones to the environment and economy in the Gulf of Mexico, the American government needs to make dramatic and controversial efforts to stop the growth of this dead zone.
Hypoxic zones, more commonly known as ‘Dead Zones,’ can be found all over the world, with the second largest located in the Gulf of Mexico. They are lacking in life because of the absence of the atomic number 8, otherwise known as oxygen. According to the Environmental Encyclopedia, hypoxia occurs when the content of oxygen is below or between 2-3 milligrams per liter, while for healthy waters 8 milligrams need to be found (“Dead Zones”). Therefore, a dead zone is a section of water which is unable to sustain life due to an unsustainable amount of oxygen.
Curiously, the body of water which contains one of the largest dead zones is the Gulf of Mexico. The dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico is vast, so much so that an article in The Advocate compares it to two states. “…stretching 6,474 square miles… the size of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined…” ( Amy Wold "Dead zone larger than last summer *** Triple the size of the task force-set target”)
Dead zone’s formation can originate in numerous ways which can either be a product of nature or humans. Captain Ralph Allen of The Charlotte Sun describes three different ways hypoxic zones can be cultivated by nature: warm waters, biological decomposition and deep chasms (Allen). It is important to realize that they each cause dead zones because of their ability to deplete, or prevent, oxygen in waters.
The Gulf of Mexico is no stranger to heat, so it is not a surprise that its warm climates are a contributor to the construction of dead zones. Consequently, The Cha...
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...these defects cause procreative issues (Blomberg). The hypoxic zones were shown to decrees the egg hatching parentage to 10% from the previous average of 50% (Blomberg). Thus, dead zones bring lasting negative results in larger fish, and present dangers to bottom-dwelling shellfish.
The decline in aquatic life is harmful to American fisheries. For instance about 40% of the fishing industry in the United States is based in the Gulf of Mexico, and the majority is in shrimping (“Dead Zones”). However, the hypoxic zones “...reduced economic productivity in both commercial and recreational fisheries, and both direct and indirect impact on fisheries such as direct mortality and altered migration patterns that may lead to declines in populations.” (“Dead Zones”) Therefore, the American economy will be taking a decreasing hit along with the fish populations in the Gulf.
Currently, the United State’s Gulf of Mexico experiences an annual, seasonal “dead zone” as a result of hypoxia. Hypoxia is a low level of dissolved oxygen (<2mg/L) in an area of water. Hypoxia is typically temporary and seasonal, but the low oxygen levels can be devastating to aquatic organisms. Hypoxia occurs in many oceanic waters worldwide, but there is a growing area of concern in our Gulf of Mexico coast. Hypoxia is largely caused by nitrogen fertilizer application for agriculture, with heavy concentrations coming from the Midwestern US. Nitrogen mobilizes as nitrate, and is transported via surface water runoff. The runoff enters tile-drain supported ditches, enters streams and joins the Mississippi river, eventually reaching the gulf. Nitrate mobilization is a problem for human health, and ag. runoff is also often attributed to the contamination of surface and well-water sources in rural areas. High levels of nitrates restrict the ability of red blood cells to carry oxygen. This can harm humans, and is the major cause of infant methemoglobinemia, or “blue baby syndrome”. The safe drinking level standard is 10mg/L.
...ler C. W. "Lineations and fauts in the Texas Coastal Zone." Report of Investgations. 1976. 85, 32 pp.
Myers, V. (1994, December). The Everglades: Researchers take a new approach to an old problem. Sea Frontiers, 40, 15-16.
oxygen to survive. If the oxygen level is depressed to zero, all fish in the
Hypoxia is “rapidly increasing” throughout the world (Briggs, 2009). Areas in the United States included the Long Island Sound, Chesapeake Bay, and the Gulf of Mexico; off the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and sometimes extending to the Texas shelf (EPA, 2003). The Gulf of Mexico is also ...
The State of Florida’s marine ecosystems are in a constant pattern of change. Change is necessary in nature. Change is nature’s way of adaptation. While there are “occasional good” changes, the progressive major changes have a devastating negative impact to the Florida marine environment. There are several factors correlated directly to this negative change. Most of these factors are due to man. One cause is natural. It is the hurricane. Hurricane Season is from June to November (NOAA) each and every year. On average 11 named storms occur in the Atlantic Basin each year with 6 reaching hurricane strength and 50% of these becoming a major hurricane of category 3 to 5 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale (NOAA). Whether small or large, hurricanes cause damage and modifica...
Every year starting around May, sometimes as early as February, an enormous swath of the Gulf of Mexico loses a great amount of oxygen, making some areas inhospitable to marine life. These oxygen-depleted conditions stay until September, sometimes even October. This annual occurrence is referred to as the Gulf of Mexico hypoxia or “dead zone.” Hypoxic conditions in the Gulf of Mexico are defined when levels of dissolved oxygen drop bellows 2mg/L (Hypoxia In the Northern Gulf of Mexico 2014). While dead zones occur naturally throughout the world, the hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico is greatly exacerbated by human actions. These hypoxic and sometimes even anoxic conditions drive away marine life and can even kill those that are sessile or linger too long and find themselves unable to escape.
The LISS is undergoing studies that in hopes will reduce the extent of hypoxia. In order to restore the health of Long Island Sound additional nitrogen reduction is needed. Two major research efforts have provided much of the information on how low oxygen conditions affect living resources in the Sound. The EPA’s (Environmental Protections Agencies) Office of Research and Development conducted a study which was the first major research effort.
Abiotic factors are things that are nonliving that influence an environment and it's inhabitants. Some of the abiotic factors that are attributed to coastal erosion in Louisiana are hurricanes, tropical storms, elevation, sunlight, overnutrition, sea-level rise, and deposition. Hurricanes bring about larger waves which cause dune erosion or beach erosion (Clark et al., 1998). This is significant because beaches and/or the dunes of the beach serve as buffers to the coastline and the ecosystem. As the beach or dunes recede from the erosion caused by these large waves and an increased sea-level the flora and fauna that help sustain the area die off or retreat to a more habitable zone leaving the wetlands in a critical state often resulting in a total loss of the area (Stockdon et al., 2012). Due to the nature of the Gulf of Mexico large destructive storms such as hurricanes or tropica...
affects areas such as Belize, Louisiana, Nicaragua, Honduras, Yucatán Peninsula, Southern United States, Windward Islands, Eastern United States, Windward Islands,
Darkness all around. Like an infinite black hole. Only flashes of light from fish. So much pressure, it feels like you are being squeezed into a ball. That’s what it would be like to live in the deep dark depths of the Pelagic zone, so fish make big adaptations to be able to live down there. One quick definition everyone should know is ecosystem. Ecosystem means all of the living things (plants and animals) and nonliving things that live in a specific area and interact with each other. The Pelagic zone has deeper water and the deeper down you go, the colder it gets and the more pressure there is. When it gets deep into the Pelagic zone it gets very dark so lots of animals have bioluminescence which basically means they can make their own light.
The dying of species such as fish due to the increase in pH will affect the fishing industry, making it more difficult to find health, sellable fish. The NOAA states, “fisheries related to coral ecosystems range from artisanal subsistence fishing, commercial fisheries, aquaculture, the live reef fish for food industry, recreational fishing, the aquarium/marine ornamental trade, and the curio and fashion industries” (NOAA). This will also impact the coastal tourist industry, which is a multi-billion dollar, because people all around the world go to areas such as the Great Barrier Reef to the extraordinary ecosystem at work. Many people also consume fish and sea life and although the effects of eating sea life with lower pH is not apparent right now it is unrealistic to think it will have no
O'Hare, G.. (2011). Updating our understanding of climate change in the North Atlantic: the role of global warming and the Gulf Stream. Geography,1 96, 5-15. Retrieved September 20, 2011, from Research Library. (Document ID: 2346235711).
The deep sea is one of the most hostile environments in the world, which a living organism is subjected to. As you progress from the surface (the epipelagic zone) through to the abyssopelagic zone near the basin of the ocean; the environmental characteristics begin to alter dramatically. Light, pressure, oxygen, temperature and food are abiotic factors that have all led to the fascinating adaptations of deep sea life. Pressure alone increases by 1 atmosphere for each 10m in depth which is an astonishing rate. The deep sea temperature remains between 2-4°c, which is just another factor inhabitants must overcome in order to survive, along with a reduced quantity and accessibility of essential factor’s like ;oxygen, food and light[3].
And a build-up of nitrogen from fertilizers washed off farmland into seas could spur abrupt blooms of algae that choke fish or create oxygen-depleted "dead zones" along coasts.