Friday, May 02, 2008

Ocean dead zone monster feeds off climate change

Bad news from the deep dark and scary ocean, a new sea monster is rising from the depths and threatening people. Or at least it's threatening our uses of the ocean. It's toxic water with no oxygen, and it's getting worse thanks to global warming.

Low oxygen dead zones are not a new thing, but a new study says that the dead zones are getting bigger and scarier, probably because of global warming.

And there may be real monsters in the story. Massive Humboldt squid (bigger than you!) are lurking in the dead zones since they can tolerate low oxygen (like a real monster!), and devouring unsuspecting fish. Are you scared yet? Ready to give up that gas-guzzler, or at least turn off the engine when you park?

Note that the monster in the picture bears no resemblance to actual ocean life, which is mostly fun and cuddly--okay maybe a little to wet and cold to be cuddly, anyway the picture is just a visual metaphor for the scary ocean hypoxia monster.

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