Climate change is likely responsible for the formation of a large dead zone that has formed off the coast of Oregon and Washington for the past eight years, researchers from Oregon State University said today.
Dead zones are ocean expanses that lose most of their marine life during the summer due to a lack of oxygen, called hypoxia. The Pacific Northwest dead zones, which have appeared every summer since 2002, are located in one of the nation’s most important fisheries.
Jack Barth, a professor of oceanography at OSU, says, "I wouldn’t be surprised if coastal dead zones appear every summer from now on because oceanic and atmospheric conditions are now primed for their regular, repeated formation."
Connections between climate change and the recent formation of dead zones in Pacific Northwest coastal waters are being studied by a research team that is funded by the National Science Foundation and co-led by Barth and Francis Chan of Oregon State University. Jane Lubchenco, now on leave from the university while serving as administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, previously co-led the team.