Ocean Dead Zones Essay

If you have ever lived in proximity to coastal areas you may have seen coastline erosion first hand. The beaches you frequent during the summer may seem to be getting smaller and smaller every year. Why does your favorite beach seem to be disappearing? Coastal erosion is to blame. The waves, wind, tides and currents all play a part in the mechanism that is coastal erosion. When water and wind batter the shoreline sediments are carried out to sea and deposited on the sea floor or at other points along the coastline. This is called an erosional coastline. This erosion may be very apparent or seem to have happened overnight when it happens due to a large storm or extremely high tide.

Water is probably the most important resource we as people have. Humans can survive without food for several weeks, but without water we would die in less than a week. On a slightly less dramatic note, millions of liters of water are needed every day worldwide for washing, irrigating crops, and cooling industrial processes, not to mention leisure industries such as swimming pools and water-sports centers. Despite our dependence on water, we use it as a dumping ground for all sorts of waste, and do very little to protect the water supplies we have.

Arizona has an incredibly large dependence on the Colorado River and groundwater. In fact, 39% of all water usage in Arizona is comprised of Colorado River water. Any dependence of that scale on any resource that originates in another area is always a major risk, as any major disaster or drastic change to the source of the river can cripple the state’s water supply. Furthermore, while Arizona does house the majority of the Lower Basin of the Colorado, the Colorado’s Upper Basin is shared between 4 other states, all with their own water needs and all with a susceptibility to drought. On the other hand, another 40% of all water Arizona uses is from groundwater sources. However, the Colorado River and these groundwater sources in the Colorado River basins have lost over 65 cubic kilometers of water over the last 9 years, with nearly 2/3 of it from groundwater loss due to over-pumping. This is because

Now Arizona is not the typical state that has a lot of precipitation and rain yearly, but it depends off other reservoirs, lakes, and rivers located in other states to for their water supply. After searching and conducting research, it was found that the main impact Arizona is suffering from the drought is decreasing water levels is from Lake Mead (located in Nevada), and the Colorado River, which flows North to South through several U.S. states. Research and data found shows that the Bureau of Reclamation releases water into the Colorado River below Lake Mead to meet water demands of downstream users in Arizona and California, and also to satisfy treaty obligations to the Republic of Mexico. Findings by the Bureau of Reclamation show that Lake Mead water level’s peaked at 1,214.26 in January of 2000. Almost a decade and a half later, recorded in January 2014, the water levels of Lake Mead are now 1,108.75 (Smith, 2014). This findings show that Arizona is continually getting a decline in water from Lake Mead every month that passes, affects thousands of residents living in Arizona, which already lacks water to begin with. If this continues, this can cause many civilians to both stand by and bare the drought as long as they can, or decide to move out of Arizona to states with a better water supply, so they won’t be burdened with the continual burden of having to ration and conserve water. The state has

The article “Water Works”, published by Orion Magazine and written by environmental specialist Cynthia Barnett intends to inform the reader anyone can make water an important factor. Overlooking it has become common many people in the United States have adapted to through the changes that have occurred in society over time. At the beginning of her article, she describes an area that does not make water care a priority, whereas in another location they make it very evident water is important. The location she describes is gloomy, grey, and is a populated area that has old water systems that are damaging environmental factors. Barnett continuously emphasizes that people are the ones who can help restore nature. This is at a less cost than

What if you had no water to bathe, wash dishes, or even drink? This is the future we face here in California if the state doesn’t act to conserve our water and ensure that it is wasted as little as possible. California is in its 3rd year of a debilitating drought, and many citizens, especially farmers are dangerously tapping more into an nonrenewable resource: groundwater. In light of the severity of current and future problems that have or will result from the depletion of the fast-emptying subterranean reserves of water, California’s Legislature has introduced a new bill designed to limit and control the use of groundwater, a decision that all other western states have already made. I believe that this new bill is necessary to prevent California

One species-related effect of global warming was exposed in a recent MSNBC news article dated Oct 23, 2006. It stated that "Dead Zones" have increased by one third in just two years, bringing the number from 149 to 200. Dead Zones are areas of the world 's oceans where blooms of tiny plants known as phytoplankton, along with the bacteria that consume them, have depleted the oxygen that fish rely upon for their very existence. Not only are fish species becoming less plentiful as food but they are also

The dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico is one of many throughout the world. There are many factors that cause the dead zone and not all dead zones are caused from the same things. In the Gulf of Mexico the dead zone is cause by nitrogen and phosphorus (fertilizer) go into the gulf and trigger phytoplankton blooms or algae blooms. First the oxygen rich water comes into the gulf and stratifies going to the bottom. Then the majority of the the nitrogen and phosphorus from agriculture and urban run offs from the Mississippi River watershed flow in the spring and early summer. For example 70% come from where the Ohio and Mississippi rivers meet, 39% come from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, 22% come from Ohio river basin, and 11% from the Missouri river basin, and the rest come from Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee. Next the phytoplankton use all that fertilizer and die. Then the phytoplankton falls to the bottom of the sea and decomposes using all the oxygen. Then because of water stratification the oxygen levels on the bottom do not get

The dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico is a human problem, like most other disasters. What this means is that once the place thrived and was ecologically balanced, but we tipped the balance slightly and wrecked havoc upon the environment. It has been noted to occur since the 1950’s and is ongoing. The reason that this dead zone occurs is because of a phenomenon known as eutrophication. Eutrophication is when there is an excessive amount of nutrients in a body of water and it causes an abundance of plants to grow. In this case the nearby farms had been using nitrogen in their fertilizers. The nitrogen got carried into the ocean through rain and other forms of

The carelessness of humans has horribly affected the oceanic ecosystem. Bodies of water such as oceans, lakes, rivers, and seas cover nearly 70% of the earth, which makes them a very valuable asset to the human population (Mambra 2017). Oceanic pollution has been an ongoing problem for years, but it is increasingly getting worse. Main causes of ocean pollution are ocean dumping, land runoff, oil spills, littering, ocean mining, and noise pollution. The dumping of waste into the ocean is the most common cause of ocean pollution because this has been known as the cheapest and easiest way to dispose of trash. Non-point pollution typically comes from land runoff. Land runoff brings many materials, such as automobile parts, into the oceans every day. Birds and mammals being the main victims, oil spills are a leading cause of ocean pollution. The feathers of these animals get covered in oil making it impossible for them to fly. Mining underwater is another outlet for pollution. Many miners leave their waste in the ocean which often increases the toxicity of the water, killing its inhabitants. Noise pollution, although it is

The Santa Monica Daily Press recently revealed an article discussing the trash in the Pacific Ocean. I believe that humans should do everything they can to prevent the pollution of our oceans. The ocean is a major food and water source and has large economic value. The ocean has contributed $ 1.2 trillion dollars and over 350 million jobs. One of the major consequences of oceanic pollution is the destruction of coral reefs, which is a habitat to many of the world’s marine wildlife. It is said that the coral reefs are home to more than 4,000 species of fish and 800 species or hard coral. If the coral is wiped out we would lose $375 billion dollars worth of goods and services. Also, pollution can contribute to the movement of harmful invasive

Dead zones are so because of a process called eutrophication. Eutrophication happens when a body of water gets too many nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen. These nutrients are fundamental in the growth of a group of single-celled organisms called cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae. When the nutrients in the water are at a normal level, cyanobacteria are normally produced. When the water is overloaded with those same nutrients, however, it can be very harmful. Human interaction is the main reason why these nutrients are being washed up into the oceans. Therefore, dead zones are primarily located near inhabited coastlines.

The Oceans Troubled Waters are mainly caused by dead zones. Dead zones are a specific area in a ocean that has dissolved oxygen. Dissolved oxygen means there is no oxygen in that area in the ocean. Every ten years the amount of dead zones have doubled and there is twice as many dead zones in the world right now. Sea animals are dying in those zones right now because they swim right up into them and they have no air to breath so they have to try to get out of the dead zone as fast as they can.The nutrient availability has gone down in dead zones. So for the little tiny animals in dead zones they can eat because their nutrient availability has gone down so they will eventually die.

Hypoxic zones are regions in the sea of such low oxygen fixation that creature life suffocates and bites the dust, and subsequently are in some cases called "DEAD ZONES." One of the biggest no dead frames in the Gulf of Mexico each spring. Every spring as agriculturists treat their territories get ready for product season, rain washes manure off the land and into streams and waterways.

A 2008 study counted 405 dead zones across the world. Hypoxia occur when there is low oxygen in a specific area, so this is a natural phenomenon in coastal areas around the world. Aquatic dead zones can be caused by an increase in nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates known as eutrophication.Major nutrients comes from human activity such as fertilisers in agriculture and burning fossil fuels , these nutrients lead to rapid increase on phytoplankton resulting in algae bloom . These organic matter produced sinks to the bottom of the ocean were bacteria break it down, when bacteria break down this organic matter they consumed oxygen liberating carbon dioxide. So this process makes the water hypoxic( low quantities of oxygen) making fish and other species to migrate to other places but there are some plants and animals that cannot move so fast that they die because they need oxygen to being alive and bacteria has taken away this essential oxygen for