News Oceans

World’s largest ocean dead zone may shrink as Earth warms

Waning trade winds curb low-oxygen region in the Pacific Ocean

a sediment core

SUFFOCATING SEA  A timeline preserved in the layers of sediment cores (one shown) reveals that the oxygen-deprived North Pacific dead zone shrank during much of the 20th century warming period.

Jacob Mey

By Thomas Sumner

- More than 2 years ago

Waning winds could give the world’s largest oxygen-starved ocean region a breath of fresh air as the planet warms, researchers report in the Aug.