A
report just issued by the US Executive Office of Science and Technology
Policy, representing the work of scientists from multiple institutions,
including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
the US Geological Survey and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science,
indicates that ocean hypoxia has increased nearly 30-fold since data
began to be collected 50 years ago.
The scientists found that
nearly half of the 647 total US coastal water bodies evaluated are
currently affected by hypoxia, a condition in which oxygen levels drop
so low that fish and other marine life cannot survive.
Their
assessment also linked the rapid spread of these low-oxygen areas to
livestock manure and fertilizer run-off, which is carried in waterways
and dumps a surplus of substances such as nitrogen and phosphorus into
the oceans.
Algae then grow in the waters and deplete oxygen
supplies. While this report focuses on the coastal waters of the USA,
Dr. Tony Koslow of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography cautioned
that dead zones are a growing global problem, one which is likely being
accelerated by climate change, because of the effect that the warming of
the top ocean layer has when it mixes with the colder, oxygen-poor
layers further below.
Dr. Koslow stated that oxygen levels in
deep oceans are forecast to decline up to 40% in the next century, with
potentially devastating effects on sensitive marine organisms. Moreover,
the report concluded, “If current practices are continued, the
expansion of hypoxia in coastal waters will continue and increase in
severity.”
Our appreciation, Dr. Koslow, Scripps Institution of
Oceanography, US Executive Office of Science and Technology Policy and
all participating scientists, for this updated information about the
dire state of our marine environments.
We pray for the
rejuvenation of the oceans and all inhabitants as humans choose
lifestyles that reflect awareness and consideration of all
beings.Speaking with concern during an October 2009 videoconference in
Formosa (Taiwan), Supreme Master Ching Hai addressed the detrimental
impacts of livestock-raising to marine ecosystems and what must be done
to reverse these effects.
Supreme Master Ching Hai:
The livestock sector is probably the world's biggest source of water
pollution. Excessive animal waste, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides
degrade waterways, killing aquatic organisms by creating algae blooms,
which in turn chokes the oxygen from water systems and help form these
oceanic dead zones.
The number of oxygen-depleted oceanic dead
zones has increased from only 49 in the 1960s to 405 in 2008. And I am
sure there are more now. Regarding the concrete instructions and
guidance to avoid the planet’s destruction, it’s again: Be veg, go
green, do good deeds and be loving. That’s the loving way to live;
that’s the noble way to live.
We must develop our innate noble
qualities, because after all, we are humane beings. And, it’s the only
way we can save the planet from destruction.
http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=2583 http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/sep/03/coastal-dead-zones-threat-us-waters/
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