Dead Zones
Mari-Aletha Dunn 3rd Per 12-9-25
1. What are the issues of dead zones, and how do they badly affect our enviornment?
Well, there are many issues with Dead zones, but there are two main ones. One is well... It's a dead zone. Meaning that there can be no life there, which isn't good. The second main issue is that since there is a dead zone it usually means there are harmful chemicals in the water, The chemicals in the water can spread throughout the water and cause the death of more fish, or cause more dead zones.
2. What widlife and regions (In North America) are most affected? How are the widlife affected?
The wildlife that is most affected is aquatic wildlife. (Fish, aquatic plants, etc.) and the regions that are most affected are the regions in North America with the most agriculture, or shipping (From the Gulf of Mexico, along the coast to a little past NY.) The wildlife is affected greatly, many animals either dying off in the area of the Dead Zone, also many animals aren't able to get food because all the food is gone in the areas they normally would get food at. (Picture site- http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/51cb0c44eab8ea7378000003/our-planet-is-exploding-with-ocean-dead-zones.jpg)
Pictures
North America
Areas most affected. (Site; http://www.grinningplanet.com/2005/05-17/dead-zones-americas.jpg)
Dead Zone
What happens (Site; http://www.mountaindesigncompany.com/images/DeadZone_Infographic.jpg)
Example
This is what can happen in a dead zone (That is all dead fish) (Site; http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QXopXv5bcXY/T9VK-HWy8II/AAAAAAAAA6Q/C5cvtATl1rs/s1600/dead_zone_size_big.jpg)
What they are and what they do.
Do Dead Zones affect our lives in League City? Do they affect other peoples lives?
Yes, this does affect our lives here in League City. Not greatly, but it still does. For some other people it affects their lives greatly. Such as fisherman. If there is a dead zone then that means no fish, and no fish means they don't have a job. (Picture site- http://new.coolclassroom.org/files/discoveries/3/dead-zones_eutrophication.jpg)
What causes this to occure? What are some solutions to this?
Dead zones are made because different chemicals, which are harmful to marine life to begin with, flow into a certain area. This causes too much algae to grow. When the algae dies off it floats to the bottom and uses up oxygen, causing the fish and other wildlife to die off. Some ways of preventing, or helping to get rid of are; cutting down on the use of certain chemicals in the U.S.A. Disposing of chemicals safely. A way to clean up to help is to clean all the dead algae or clean up some of the chemicals in the water.
The Dead Zone
My own solution.
I think a way to help prevent dead zones from occurring is making sure chemicals are disposed of safely. How you would do this is, collect the run off from farms, or other places and move them to where they may be disposed of safely. This could definitely be done today.
Sites
Articles- http://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/feature/red-tides-and-dead-zones
http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/deadzone.html
Note- Citation for picture may be wrong because I tried using the site where I could actuallt get the right sources, but it wouldn't work.