Science Nation: Pacific Dead Zones
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(Describer) Streams of light collide to create a globe filled with water. Title: Science Nation. Waves crash on a rock.
(male) It's bumpy today. We've got the first of the fall storms sweeping through.
(Describer) On a boat...
We're going out to about 50 meters.
(male narrator) Oceanographer Jack Barth has had plenty of bumpy rides off the Oregon coast, launching and retrieving these underwater gliders.
(Describer) ...like torpedoes.
From April to October, they gather data to help answer questions about the health of the world's oceans. We're going to go with the swell. Excellent. Right now.
(Describer) One is pushed down a ramp into the water.
The main things we're measuring are temperature, salinity, and importantly, the dissolved oxygen of the water. That's what tells us how that low-oxygen zone looks.
(narrator) With National Science Foundation funding, Barth is studying low oxygen, or dead zones, which appear each summer off the Oregon/Washington coast.
(male) In 2006, we actually went to zero oxygen, and it extended many miles across the sea floor. That's when we partnered with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to send a camera down on a remotely-operated vehicle. We got these images of dead crabs everywhere.
(narrator) Worldwide, ocean dead zones now number about 400. The major man-made cause is agricultural runoff from rivers into the ocean. In addition, winds and currents move nutrient rich but oxygen poor water from the deep ocean to the coast. Microscopic organisms called phytoplankton thrive but then die, decompose, and the cycle continues. Climate change may also come into play.
(male) We think there's two scenarios that global warming is potentially affecting this. Out in the deeper ocean, there's measurements that show that the oxygen levels are going ever-so-slightly down with time. When that water's brought to shore, it's already low in oxygen.
(narrator) Global warming may also be influencing wind patterns and changing ocean circulation. Barth says these smart robots provide new insight to understand our oceans.
(male) It's opened this whole new view under the sea. It's really revolutionized how we can keep a tap on what's happening out there.
(Describer) A globe turns.
For Science Nation, I'm Miles O'Brien.
Now Playing As: English with English captions (change)
Ocean “dead zones” along the Washington and Oregon coasts are threatening critical U.S. fishing areas. These oxygen-depleted regions, that loose virtually all of their marine life in the summer, are expanding, and new ones are appearing in the Pacific Ocean. With support from the National Science Foundation, Oceanographer Jack Bath is also using an impressive new tool, an unmanned underwater glider that provides round the clock monitoring of these zones.
Media Details
Runtime: 2 minutes 33 seconds
- Topic: Geography, Science
- Subtopic: Environmental Issues, Marine Life, U.S. Geography
- Grade/Interest Level: 7 - 12
- Standards:
- Release Year: 2009
- Producer/Distributor: National Science Foundation
- Series: Science Nation
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