Disentangling anthropogenic and natural causes for global coastal hypoxia

ended

Dissolved oxygen is an essential substance for a large portion of marine biota. Hypoxia, the reduction of dissolved oxygen concentrations to levels which are detrimental to the health of aerobic organisms, is currently expanding throughout the world's coastal areas, creating a negative impact from both the environmental (e.g. reduced biodiversity, reduced population growth, formation of 'dead zones') and economical (loss of fisheries) perspectives. Through the development and usage of local to global scale biogeochemical models, this research addresses past, present, and future formation of hypoxic 'dead zones' as a result of human-induced nutrient loadings and climate change. These topics are relevant for both industry and society, as they include the effects of changing river nutrient export to coastal marine ecosystems on the increasing frequency, extent, and duration of hypoxia. These studies will serve to further constrain nutrient reduction strategies and their effect on the amelioration of hypoxia in various coastal environments.