Oregon’s Coast Dead Zone is the "new normal"
Tuesday, July 31st, 2007While coastal upwelling is generally a good thing, like many things in nature, you can have too much of a good thing. In this case the upwelling of cold, nutrient-rich deep water causes not only a plankton bloom, but the death and decomposition of the buggers have a dark side:
Unlike the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, which is caused by fertilizer washing down the Mississippi River, the Oregon dead zone is triggered by northerly winds, which create an ocean-mixing condition called upwelling.
This brings low-oxygen waters from deep in the ocean close to shore, and spreads nitrogen and other nutrients through the water column, kicking off a population boom of plankton, the tiny plants and animals at the foundation of the ocean food web.
Normally, this is good for salmon, giving them lots of food to eat. But when huge amounts of plankton die, they fall to the bottom of the ocean, where they decompose, depleting the water of oxygen. Source: Wired News - AP News
How is this connected to global warming? It’s all in the winds. Stronger northerly winds cause the upwelling. Stronger winds come from the increased energy in the whole system because the Earth is getting warmer. Remember a large portion of our climate and weather is powered by heat. Hotter, more energy, more energy, stronger winds and storms ….. and so on.
Is it too late? Frankly I don’t think so, if you think in geologic time. Pity is that humans might not be around to see things work out. Or maybe that’s a good thing.
