Ocean Dead Zones

Ocean Dead Zones

Have you ever heard of an ocean dead zone?  It is basically exactly what is sounds like.  In a dead zone in the ocean, there is no form of life.  Why is that?  Well, what happens for a dead zone in the ocean to form, according to the site http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/deadzone.html , is that there is pollution that makes its way into the ocean in the form of runoff, and this causes the growth of a lot of algae.  This algae then will sink to the bottom and begin to decompose.  This however, poses a threat.  When the algae decomposes, it will consume a lot of oxygen.  With this decrease in oxygen level, the marine life In the area can't survive.  So, animals die or move locations due to this pollution problem.  According to the site http://www.onearth.org/earthwire/devil-deep-blue-sea , The Gulf of Mexico has 5,000 miles of beach front water that is completely uninhabitable for marine life due to the pollution around that area.  It is one of the largest dead zones in the world actually.  So, imagine with all of the pollution that occurs in the world, just how many dead zones could there be? Well, it is estimated that there are around 400 of these dead zones throughout the world, but that is only on areas that have been studied.  There are a lot of areas unstudied, so the estimate is more around 1000 dead zones.  The dead zones are usually located along the shores around the world.  Why is this?  Primarily runoff pollution.  This pollution is filled with nitrogen from fertilizers.  There are dead zones that are inland as well, but they are usually in the ocean off shore and near the coast.  When you think about it, that's not very healthy for the water to be polluted like that, especially when people go and use the ocean for recreational purposes.  That can be very dangerous to one's health.  As you might expect, this isn't just something that can be looked over like it is no big deal.  These dead zones have a huge impact on the ecosystems around it as well as the economy.  According to the site http://www.seaweb.org/resources/briefings/dead_zone.php for example, it is said that the fisheries and shipment canals in the Gulf are being affected by these dead zones.  Not only that, but the fish that are being caught in these fisheries are believed to possibly be affected by the pollution as well.  Not only fish, but other organisms that are in hatcheries, like shrimp.  On an ecosystem level of thinking, the dead zones put a loop in the migration and spawning of fish. The food sources of fish are nonexistent as well, so that is causing problems for the fish too.  I hope that this article was helpful in providing information about what a dead zone is.  The pollution that is going into these waters is putting a great disruption in the ecosystems in the waters as well as off shore and in the economy.  Something needs to be done to reduce the effects that this pollution is causing. 

Aquaculture

What is aquaculture?  Well, according to the site http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/aquaculture/what_is_aquaculture.html , aquaculture is basically the harvesting, or in other words, farming and breeding, of different types of plants and animals that live in a wide range of marine environments.  Aquaculture can also be referred to as fish farming, in simpler terms.  This farming produces many different types of fish, from bait fish to food fish to fish that are in aquariums.  Plants and other items that aquaculture produces include sea vegetables, mollusks, and even some algae.  Also, aquaculture produces crustaceans like mussels, oysters and shrimps  Now, how exactly does this aquaculture work?  Why is it called farming?  Well, these fish and plants are formed in hatcheries and then grow larger in tanks or maybe even ponds.  Something I found interesting on this site while researching aquaculture was that the plants that are produced in aquaculture can be used in so many things.  A few that are listed include food products and pharmaceutical products.  I found that interesting because a lot of people might not know that those plants are used for very important things.  Producing many different species of fish and plants, there are obviously two different types of aquaculture.  These would be marine aquaculture, which is salt water, and the freshwater aquaculture.  So for example, fish like salmon are bred in a marine aquaculture environment, where as fish like trout and bass or bred in a freshwater aquaculture.  So, where does aquaculture happen, who does it?  Well, aquaculture is done all over the world.  The United States does produce aquaculture, however, it is not a big producer compared to the rest of the world.  According to the site http://thenaa.net/faqs/about-us-aquaculture , about 88% of the seafood that the United States  consumes is imported from other places.  According to the site http://fishery.about.com/od/CommonAquacultureSpecies/a/Aquaculture-Top-10-Aquaculture-Countries.htm , the largest industry in the United States is that of oysters, clams and mussels.  This accounts for 67% of the total United States aquaculture production.  So, which country has the largest aquaculture production? On the same site, the list the top 10, number 1 being China, 2 being Japan, 3 being India, 4 Chile, 5 Vietnam, 6 Indonesia, 7 Thailand, 8 Bangladesh, 9 Korea, and 10 is the Philippines.  It is estimated the only about 5% of the seafood supply in the United States comes from U.S. aquaculture production- everything else is imported.  According to the site http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/aquaculture/aquaculture_in_us.html , the United States trade deficit on seafood is about $11.2 billion each year.  This means that the value of the seafood that the United States imports is greater than the amount of seafood exported by that much.  That's a lot of money, you may not have known that much money was spent on something you probably never thought cost that much- seafood.  Obviously if the United States spends so much money on imports of seafood, these aquacultures in other countries are very important parts of their culture and way of life.  It helps their economies and creates jobs for people, and they also re-stock certain areas with species that are less populated, so it is also important not only for the economy, but for the environment as well. I hope this article helped provide some information about what aquaculture is and how it plays a major role in everyday life in the world's economy. 

Is Water a Human Right?

There is a very difficult subject that is constantly being debated about, and that is the debate of whether or not water is a human right.  What do you think?  Is water a human right?  When thinking about this, there are many things to consider.  For example, on the site http://www.unric.org/en/water/27360-making-water-a-human-right , it is explained that the United Nations General Assembly does in fact consider water to be a human right.  They care about the quality of the water, making sure that it is safe to drink, just as much as they care about the availability of the water.  It is not stated that the availability of water is not a human right in the Declaration of Human Rights, but the United Nations considers the availability of water to be a human right because according to them, if that is not a right, then that would also take away other rights, like right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being.  They say that if water is not a human right, and the availability of water is not a human right, then that takes away other human rights, so the question that if water is a human right or not is clear that it is a human right.  According to the site, http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/human_right_to_water.shtml , The United Nations General Assembly declared that water is a human right on July 28, 2010, in Resolution 64/292.  What did this actually do?  Well, in this Resolution, states and international organizations need to provide everything imaginable to provide safe and healthy drinking water for all.  If you would like to learn more about water and why it is crucial that it as well as sanitation are human rights then visit the site http://www.righttowater.info/ .  At this site, you can find out about how you can get involved, or where to learn about the rights of water in some more detail. 

In my opinion, water should definitely be a human right.  I fully agree that if that is not a right, or the availability of water and the access to water is not a right, that other rights would be affected.  Not only that, but water is used in so many different ways.  If water is not a right, and you had to buy it for everything, things would be a lot different because of embedded water, a topic I talked about earlier on the blog.  Basically embedded water is water that you use that you may not be aware you use, for instance the water it takes to make your food and clothes.  It should be a human right because it provides the health and well being as well as a lot of things you use in everyday life.  Water is such a precious resource that if you don't consider it a human right then a lot of things would not be possible in everyday life.  I hope this blog was helpful in describing why water is a human right and why the cleanliness of water is just as important as the access of water.  Just because water is a human right doesn't mean that the access to water is always there.  The access is just as important because it does so many things for health and everyday life.