In the Pacific Northwest, as higher temperatures trigger more blazes, yearly wildfires are becoming more common than people wearing Patagonia. These wildfires rage across thousands of acres and devastate entire ecosystems like clockwork (kind of the opposite of those people in Patagonia). Not too far away, a similar tragedy is unfolding, except this one is underwater.

A recent report from Oregon’s Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia Council found that the state’s coastal waters have such low levels of oxygen that many organisms are actually suffocating.

The problem stems from the same issue as the increasing wildfires. Higher global temperatures have warmed ocean temperatures, which in turn trigger algae blooms. The algae themselves are harmful enough, because they can release toxins into the water. Florida, for instance, has been suffering a severe toxic algae bloom for the past few months.



But when the algae die they sink to the bottom of the ocean, where they’re decomposed by bacteria. Those bacteria use oxygen to break down the algae. If there’s too much algae, the bacteria end up using all the oxygen in the water, and other nearby animals don’t have enough oxygen to breathe. Fish and certain crustaceans are fast enough to move to unaffected areas, but plenty of other animals, especially crabs and oysters, are not.

“When oxygen levels get low enough, many marine organisms who are place-bound die of oxygen starvation,” said Francis Chan, cochair of the council’s science panel.

The real danger doesn’t come from just one instance of oxygen deprivation, but from the fact that this is becoming an annual occurrence. If nothing changes, every summer, as the water gets warmer, the algae off the Oregon coast will start blooming, and the animals will start dying.

Source: OPB

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