Deadzonesareontherise...Humanactivityhascausedanincreaseinuninhabitable,oxygen-poorzones--alsoknownas“deadzones“--inourwaters.Oxygenisthethirdmostabundantelementintheuniverse,anditisanecessityfornearlyalllifeonEarth.Yetmanyrivers,estuaries,coastalwaters,andpartsoftheopenoceanlackenoughofit.Inthisbook,DavidL.Kirchmanexplainstheimpactsofdeadzonesandprovidesanin-depthhistoryofoxygenlossinwater.Hedetailstheroletheagriculturalindustryplaysinwaterpollution,showcasinghowfertilizerscontaminatewatersuppliesandkickstartharmfulalgalbloomsinlocallakes,reservoirs,andcoastaloceans.Algaedecompositionrequiressomuchoxygenthatlevelsdroplowenoughtokillfish,destroybottom-dwellingbiota,reducebiologicaldiversity,andrearrangefoodwebs.Wecan’tundothedamagecompletely,butwecanworktogethertoreducethesizeandintensityofdeadzonesinplacesliketheGulfofMexico,ChesapeakeBay,andtheBalticSea.NotonlydoesKirchmanclearlyoutlinewhatdeadzonesmeanforhumanity,healsosupplieswayswecanreducetheirdeadlyimpactonhumanandaquaticlife.Nutrientpollutioninsomeregionshasalreadybeguntodeclinebecauseofwastewatertreatment,bufferzones,covercrops,andprecisionagriculture.Moreneedstobedone,though,toreducetheharmfulimpactofexistingdeadzonesandtostopthethousandsofnewonesfromcroppingupinourwaters.Kirchmanprovidesinsightintothewayschangingourdietcanreducenutrientpollutionwhilealsoloweringgreenhousegassesemittedbytheagriculturalindustry.Individualscandosomethingpositivefortheirhealthandtheworldaroundthem.Theresultingbookallowsreadersinterestedintheenvironment--whetherstudents,policymakers,ecosystemmanagers,orsciencebuffs--todiveintothesedeadlyzonesanddiscoverhowtheycanhelpmitigatetheharmfuleffectsofoxygen-poorwaterstoday.
