Photo: "Dead Zones" Multiplying Fast, Coastal Water Study Says

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A global map of "dead zones"—where coastal waters contain too little oxygen to sustain life—shows (as black dots) a concentration in the Northern Hemisphere, where human activity has had the most effect.

As of August 2008, there were more than 400 known "dead zones," scientists said, up from just over 300 in the 1990s.

Image courtesy Science/AAAS

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