Environmental And Environmental Impacts Of Ocean Dead Zones

Studying Dead Zones For the last century and a half pollution has been increasing at an exponential rate in the World. This pollution negatively impacts all inhabitants of the Earth, but often times the destruction of the ocean is overlooked. One of the biggest issues that the ocean is facing is ocean dead zones. Ocean dead zones are increasing rapidly due to pollution and environmental damage caused by humans. This paper will be discussing what an ocean dead zone is, what are the sources of pollution that create dead zones, what chemicals are involved, and the environmental and economical impacts of ocean dead zones. An ocean dead zone is a low oxygen area where most of the marine life dies or leaves. Ocean dead zones are also known as hypoxic zones because the term hypoxic means low levels of oxygen. Ocean dead zones have been around and occurring for hundreds of thousands of years, but recently they have been increasing rapidly. Since the 1970s, the amount of ocean dead zones has been doubling every decade. …show more content…
“There are many physical, chemical, and biological factors that combine to create dead zones, but nutrient pollution is the primary cause of those dead zones created by humans” (National Ocean Service). Nutrient pollution is when too many nutrients enter the water. Chemicals that are commonly found in nutrient pollution are phosphorus and nitrogen. The excess amount of nutrients in the water gives algae the ability to overpopulate the ecosystem. When algae dies it ends up sinking to the bottom of the ocean. When it decomposes, it releases oxygen which makes zones hypoxic. Dead zones can come from oil spills, wastewater, pollution in the rain, runoff from farmers, and illegal dumping of toxic