Earth Equity News

World's Oceans Being Starved of Oxygen at Alarming Rates: Study. By Bina Venkataraman, NYTimes, August 14, 2008. "Many coastal areas of the world's oceans are being starved of oxygen at an alarming rate, with vast stretches along the seafloor depleted of it to the point that they can barely sustain marine life, researchers are reporting. The main culprit, scientists say, is nitrogen-rich nutrients from crop fertilizers that spill into coastal waters by way of rivers and streams. A study to be published Friday in the journal Science says the number of these marine 'dead zones' around the world has doubled about every 10 years since the 1960s. About 400 coastal areas now have periodically or perpetually oxygen-starved bottom waters, many of them growing in size and intensity."