Science a GoGo's Home Page Forums General Discussion General Science Discussion Forum ocean pollution

Perhaps this is something to really worry about:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061019/ap_on_sc/ocean_dead_zones

The claim is that dead zones in the ocean are increasing. Is it a case of better monitoring?

from reading the article, id say its a combination of better monitoring and more use of fertilizer. This is where the money spend on global warming studies should be spent. There was a discussion about one of these dead spots near the mississipi a few weeks ago. Appearantly there are a number of groups looking for solutions already. unfortunately, there is no magic wand that can be waved and take care of the problem quickly. It will take time, money and effort to find a workable solution. Some have suggested that fertilizer be banned, but thats not workable. part of this is because its not all fertilizer and part is that its too needed as things are now.

"Coral reefs recovering faster are generally those living in marine protected areas and coastal waters where the levels of pollution, dredging and other kinds of human-induced disturbance are considered low," the U.N. said.

Wow, that's a surprise, eh?

Think of all the stuff that got washed out of New Oleans and the rest of the Gulf coast affected by Katrina, et al. I wonder if that might contribute to the current dead zone in that area?(he asked sarcastically)