Think Green Live Clean

Photo credit: Jeff Schmaltz, NASA

When we consider the ocean, most of us imagine it’s life-giving properties- like supplying oxygen to Earth’s creatures.  What most of us don’t realize is that the ocean itself can be suffocated.  This is exactly what has begun to occur in the planet’s youngest sea, resulting in a damaged Baltic ecosystem and the creation of one of the largest “dead zones” in the world.

A dead zone is an area where the sea’s oxygen has been used up by seabed bacteria that decompose masses of dead algae.  Although it appears a natural phenomenon on the surface, the damage stems from agricultural fertilizers and sewage full of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus that are washed into the sea.  The result:  an explosion of microscopic algae called phytoplankton that suck up the sea’s oxygen and in turn choke aquatic life.  And that isn’t the only problem.

The overfishing of Baltic cod has also intensified the issue.   The cod eat sprats (a small, herring-like species), which then eat microscopic marine creatures called zooplankton that in turn eat the algae.  Do the math: Fewer cod equals more algae…and less oxygen.  And to complete the vicious cycle, the spreading dead zones are beginning to engulf the cod’s breeding grounds.

The Baltic Sea, while susceptible to environmental changes due to its unique makeup of fresh water and marine species, can still possibly be saved.  A new action plan entitled the Baltic Sea Strategy was proposed by the EU in hopes of revitalizing the shared body of water.  While there are no quick fixes, hopefully we will see steps taken that can potentially curb the issue in the long run.

To find out more about what is being done to help the Baltic Sea, visit National Geographic here.