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Subject: Oceans in trouble
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Monday, March 29, 2004
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Published on Monday, March 29, 2004 by the Agence France Presse
Rapid Growth of "Dead Zones" in Oceans Threatens Planet
JEJU, South Korea - The spread of oxygen-starved "dead zones" in the
oceans, a graveyard for fish and plant life, is emerging as a threat to
the health of the planet, experts say.
For hundreds of millions of people who depend on seas and oceans for
their livelihoods, and for many more who rely on a diet of fish and
seafood to survive, the problem is acute.
Some of the oxygen-deprived zones are relatively small, less than one
square kilometer (0.4 square miles) in size. Others are vast, measuring
more than 70,000 square kilometers.
Global distribution of oxygen-depleted coastal zones. The 146 zones
shown are associated with either majorpopulation concentrations or with
watersheds that deliver large quantities of nutrients to coastal waters.
(Annual - yearly events related to summer or autumnal stratification;
Episodic - events occurring at irregularintervals greater than one year;
Periodic - events occurring at regular intervals shorter than one year;
Persistent -all-year-round hypoxia)
Sources: Boesch 2002, Caddy 2000, Diaz and others (in press), Green and
Short 2003, Rabalais 2002
Pollution, particularly the overuse of nitrogen in fertilizers, is
responsible for the spread of dead zones, environment ministers and
experts from more than 100 countries were told.
The number of known oxygen-starved areas has doubled since 1990 to
nearly 150, according to the UN Environmental Program (UNEP), holding is
annual conference here.
"What is clear is that unless urgent action is taken to tackle the
sources of the problem, it is likely to escalate rapidly," UNEP
executive director Klaus Toepfer said.
"Hundreds of millions of people depend on the marine environment for
food, for their livelihoods and for their cultural fulfillment."
The world at present gets 17 percent of its animal protein from fish, UN
figures show.
That supply is now endangered on at least two fronts: overfishing that
has depleted stocks in recent decades and now the challenge of widening
dead zones.
The issue was identified as a key emerging problem in the Global
Environment Year Book 2003, a health report on the planet released at
the start of the UNEP's three-day conference that concludes Wednesday.
The spread of low-level oxygen zones in seas and oceans, identified as
early as in the 1960s, is closely related to the overuse of fertilizers
in agriculture, whose main ingredient is nitrogen.
On land, nitrogen boosts plant growth. But when it washes into the sea
in rivers and rainwater overrun, it triggers an explosive bloom of
algae.
When these tiny plants growing on the ocean surface sink to the bottom
and decompose, they use up all the oxygen and suffocate other marine
life.
Fossil fuel waste from motor vehicles and power plants increases
nitrogen content in oceans.
With oxygen depletion, fish, oysters and other marine life eventually
die out along with important habitats such as sea grass beds.
Relatively large zones are found in the Gulf of Mexico, the Chesapeake
Bay off the US East Coast, the Baltic and Black seas, and parts of the
Adriatic.
Others have appeared off South America, Japan, China, Australia and New
Zealand. Some zones are permanent, while other occur annually or
intermittently.
Most of the 160 million tons of nitrogen used as fertilizer annually
ends up in the sea.
UNEP said efforts should focus on cutting back on overuse of nitrogen to
bring the seas back to life.
With a joint accord, European states within the Rhine River basin
successfully cut the amount of nitrogen entering the North Sea by 37
percent between 1985 and 2000, it said.
The UNEP advocates planting of more forests and grasslands to soak up
excess nitrogen and better sewage treatment.
Its conference is the first ever held in Asia with more than 100
ministers and high-level officials attending from 155 countries.
C Copyright 2004 AFP
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