A new finding revealed the dead zone with the lowest oxygen levels in the Gulf of Oman, the Arabian Sea. The dead zone in the Arabian Sea is now the largest Oxygen Minimum Zone (OMZ) category in the world.
The existence of dead zones in the Gulf of Oman is not a good sign for Earth and all living things in it. The dead zone does not support life at sea due to lack of oxygen. The lives of living things in the oceans are in danger, which can cause death.
The oxygen that decreases in the ocean is due to an abundance of chemicals from the land. Climate change and global warming are also a contributing factor, quoted from the Wolf Tribune, Friday (4/5/2018).
Even more astonishing, as the increasing use of chemical fertilizers and human-caused wastewater, dead zones in the oceans are widespread. The number of oceans on Earth with zero oxygen increased more than fourfold over the last 50 years.
In estuaries and seas, areas with low oxygen have also increased more than 10-fold since 1950.
The study of oxygen-depleted zones in the world's oceans is published in the journal Science on January 5, 2018. Researchers say the world must curb climate change and marine pollution to stop oxygen depletion in the world's oceans.
The research was conducted by scientists from GO2NE (Global Ocean Oxygen Network), a new working group established in 2016 by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the United Nations.
"Oxygen is very important for life in the oceans," said marine ecologist with Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Denise Breitburg, quoted from the International Business Times.
The latest findings are also alarming because nearly half of Earth's oxygen comes from the oceans. Dead zone in the ocean blindly many animals suffocate.
Lower oxygen depletion can also affect growth, inhibit reproduction, and cause illness, even death.