The National Center for Environment and Energy at Aarhus University has issued a report on its findings that large swathes of Denmark’s marine territory are suffering from oxygen depletion. Such problems occur periodically but this time is as bad as a serious outbreak at the turn of this century. An area larger than Funen, Denmark’s second largest island, is affected, particularly the waters of the Limfjord, the Little Belt, and the South Funen Archipelago, which are important for Denmark’s national fish supply but also full of communities reliant on fisheries and aquaculture-related businesses. The combined areas experiencing oxygen depletion is 40% larger than a year ago, with more and more marine plants and animals dying. Experts at the center fear that the public has become immune to news of oxygen depletion because it is periodic. But this time it is much worse. If the plants and animals died on land, it would be more noticeable and people would be alarmed. Underwater, the problem becomes too abstract to fully appreciate. That makes it all the more urgent that the news gets reported.
Denmark: Oxygen depletion holes return to marine waters with a vengeance
