Post by KNOWTHIS on Aug 2, 2007 21:13:13 GMT -5
sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2007/731/3
"Dead Zone" Reappears off Oregon Coast
A vast swath of oxygen-depleted water has reappeared off the central Oregon coast for an unprecedented sixth straight year, worrying ocean scientists that the recurring pattern has become the new norm. The return of this "dead zone" comes just as there were initial signs of life reemerging on the ocean floor after being devastated by record low oxygen conditions last year. Salmon and other fast swimming fish are sometimes able to escape the effects, but crabs, sea stars, and other slow movers suffocate when oxygen levels plummet.
www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5017120.html
Summer deluge gives rise to Texas 'dead zone' in Gulf
For the first time, Texas has generated its own "dead zone" in coastal waters, scientists say.
The 1,750-square-mile area of oxygen-depleted water, stretching from Freeport to Matagorda Bay, is potentially deadly to marine life.
A larger dead zone, caused by farm fertilizers, soil erosion and discharge from sewage treatment plants carried into the Gulf by the Mississippi River, forms annually off the Louisiana coast.
The 1,750-square-mile area of oxygen-depleted water, stretching from Freeport to Matagorda Bay, is potentially deadly to marine life.
A larger dead zone, caused by farm fertilizers, soil erosion and discharge from sewage treatment plants carried into the Gulf by the Mississippi River, forms annually off the Louisiana coast.
Flashback
www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/20040814-0541-brf-flesh-eatingbacteria.html
A man has died from flesh-eating bacteria that entered his body through a minor cut on his leg.
Dr. Kenneth Dean Creamer, 52, died late Thursday in a Victoria hospital where he had been treated since July 17, two days after he was exposed to the saltwater bacteria vibrio vulnificus.
Creamer, a Houston dentist, apparently hurt himself July 15 when he slipped on a dock during a fishing trip. Within days, both Creamer's legs had to be amputated and he went into a coma, a hospital spokeswoman told the Houston Chronicle for its Saturday editions.
Creamer is the seventh vibrio-related death in Texas this year, according to the Texas Department of Health. The federal Centers for Disease Control said a typical year brings 16 vibrio-related deaths in the Gulf Coast states.
Health experts said the bacteria is common in the Gulf and most prevalent in coastal and bay waters in warmer months. The bacteria can be ingested in contaminated seafood or absorbed through skin wounds.
Dr. Kenneth Dean Creamer, 52, died late Thursday in a Victoria hospital where he had been treated since July 17, two days after he was exposed to the saltwater bacteria vibrio vulnificus.
Creamer, a Houston dentist, apparently hurt himself July 15 when he slipped on a dock during a fishing trip. Within days, both Creamer's legs had to be amputated and he went into a coma, a hospital spokeswoman told the Houston Chronicle for its Saturday editions.
Creamer is the seventh vibrio-related death in Texas this year, according to the Texas Department of Health. The federal Centers for Disease Control said a typical year brings 16 vibrio-related deaths in the Gulf Coast states.
Health experts said the bacteria is common in the Gulf and most prevalent in coastal and bay waters in warmer months. The bacteria can be ingested in contaminated seafood or absorbed through skin wounds.