In class, Professor Popejoy assigned us partners, where we are supposed to come up with a debate of whether we were pro or con of our topic of any choice. My partner, Tanya Lapatina, and I chose dead zones as are topic. I will be talking about how dead zones will be good for our environment, and how they are a positive effect for the land all around us. .
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A dead zone is an area of an ocean (or lake) that has too little oxygen to support marine life; it is hypoxic. This is a natural phenomenon that has been increasing in shallow coastal, and estuarine areas as a result of human activities. The processes that are involved in the formation of dead zones are increased nutrient load in the water, eutrophication equals nutrient-enhanced primary production, decomposition of biomass by bacteria on the ocean floor, and depletion of oxygen due to stratification. The largest dead zone worldwide is the Baltic Sea. Over-fishing of Baltic cod has greatly intensified the problem. The second largest dead zone is the northern Gulf of Mexico, surrounding the outflow of the Mississippi River, in the summer of 2002, it covered 8,500 square miles (approximately the same size as the state of Massachusetts) (Gulf Hypoxia). The catchment area of the Mississippi River basin is vast, draining approximately 41% of the land area of the continental United States (Biello).
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People demand so much agriculture, so there not that much we can do because agriculture is going to happen. It's going to happen no matter what we do. It is part of life and it is part of the land also. Though the parched conditions have wreaked havoc on natural habitat and agricultural crops, drought may have one upside, bringing the fourth smallest dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico since mapping of this annual oxygen-free zone began in 1985. .
