An Oregon State University team reports that the “dead zones” found off the coast of Oregon are unlike anything recorded over the past 50 years. Scientists first noticed the “dead zones” in 2002, when an area of ocean water with low oxygen content formed in the near shore Oregon coast between Newport and Florence, causing a massive die-off of fish, crab and other marine life. They suspect that the “dead zones” could be fueled by stronger winds that might reflect larger global warming trends.
Global warming is expected to heat the air over land quicker than over the water, creating the potential to drive more winds thus causing more upwelling. As nutrients rise to the top, they eventually sink and die drawing more oxygen out of the water as they decay.
It’s a rapid and disturbing shift in ocean conditions in the Pacific Northwest in what has traditionally been one of the world’s more productive marine areas.
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