Area Of Planet's Ocean Dead Zones Up By One-Third In Two Years - IWC Report

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The world's coastal oceans are in crisis, with oxygen-starved ''dead zones'' increasing by a third in just two years as global temperatures increase with climate change, according to the International Whaling Commission's latest scientific report.
Dead zones, caused by over-enrichment of waters by nutrients from run-off, sewerage and warming waters, represent ''the worst-case scenario for coastal biodiversity'' and are the ''severest form'' of ocean habitat degradation, the report says.

The number of ocean dead zones has grown from 44 areas reported in 1995 to more than 400, with some of the worst oxygen-starved areas extending over 22,000sqkm. Recent figures from the United Nations Environment Program estimate fertilisers, sewage and other other pollutants, combined with the impact of climate change, have led to a doubling in the number of oxygen-deficient dead zones every decade since the 1960s.

The growing list of dead zones includes waters in the Gulf of Mexico, South China Sea, Gulf of Finland, Adriatic Sea and areas of the Caribbean. The Black Sea between south-eastern Europe and Turkey which has one of the largest dead zones in the world, had 26 commercial fish species in the 1960s but now has only five.

A recent study listed New Zealand's oldest marine reserve, Cape Rodney, as one of the world's 10 worst-affected areas, and also listed coastal areas near Perth and around Tasmania both areas on whale migration routes as areas of emerging concern.

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http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/news/local/news/general/oxygenstarved-oceans-rapidly-dying/796215.aspx