Carrington, D. (2018, January 04). Oceans suffocating as huge dead zones quadruple since 1950, scientists warn. Retrieved July 2, 2018, from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jan/04/oceans-suffocating-dead-zones-oxygen-starved

The journal Science published an analysis of dead zones which revealed that the amount of large dead zones in the ocean have quadrupled since the 1950s. The amount of dead zones along coasts in general has almost dectupled. These dead zones are caused by climate change, since as the oceans get warmer they are no longer able to hold the same amount of oxygen. These dead zones are most common along coasts, but they are sometimes found out in the open ocean. Scientists have said that they are preventable, but they are not a priority for the governments of the world.

This article is relevant to the environment because dead zones heavily affect the ecosystem of marine animals since they can no longer access areas that they might need. Some other marine animals may accidentally swim into those regions and die. These dead zones could cause mass extinction for sea creatures and could also ruin humanity’s interest in the ocean. Several millions of people rely on the ocean for their jobs or for food, so preventing dead zones should be relatively high on the priority list since dead zones inhibit people’s ability to rely on the ocean. Since dead zones affect both marine life and other land animals that rely on the ocean for food, preventing the dead zones from spreading should be high on the priority list for the countries most heavily affected by it.