Hypoxia is a term used to describe an environmental phenomenon where very low levels of oxygen become present in a water column. These areas are known as ‘hypoxic zones’ or ‘dead zones’ (LUMCON, 2010). Hypoxia is primarily a problem for estuaries and coastal waters and are indicated by the areas having dissolved oxygen concentrations of less than 2-3 ppm (Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force, 2010). Hypoxic areas have naturally occurred throughout history; however, it was not until recently that dead zones began appearing in shallow coastal and estuarine areas (NOAA, 2009). One of the causes of hypoxia in these areas today is nutrient over-enrichment (nitrogen and phosphorus) from anthropogenic sources (National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Assessment, 2003). The nutrients are used to encourage plant growth on the farm, once in the Gulf these nutrients fertilize the growth of algae, which soon die, settle to the seafloor, and decay. Bacteria feeding on the algal corpses consume such a large amount of oxygen that the water becomes unsuitable for most forms of life (Raloff, 2004). Some of the major effects of hypoxia include: long term weakening of species also stressed by overfishing, habitat loss, long-term changes in ecology, and economic loss (ESA, n.d.). Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico has emerged as a major area of environmental concern for the U.S. The size of the dead zone fluctuates throughout any given year, with the largest dead zones appearing in the warm summer months (NOAA, 2009). The largest dead zone in the world is found in the Baltic Sea (Larsen, 2004), while the annual hypoxic area in the Gulf is the second biggest in the world and is believed to be caused primarily by excess nutrients delivered from the Mississippi River in combination with seasonal stratification of Gulf waters (USGS, 2010). Approximately forty one percent of the land area of the continental US (1.2 million square miles) drains into the Mississippi River basin (NOAA, 2009). The average size the Gulf of Mexico dead zone is approximately 17,000 square km, roughly the size of Lake Ontario, but has reached sizes of approximately 22,000 square km (LUMCON, 2010). It has been estimated that together, the cities, suburbs, and farms along the Mississippi River watershed contribute 90% of the nutrient flow into the Gulf of Mexico (ESA, n.d.). There has been a great deal of scientific research concerning the causes of hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico; however, there is a lack of information regarding the underlying issues that affect hypoxia, such as American policy which allows large amounts of nitrogen to be used on crops, increased agricultural demands from farmers due to issues relating to cheap food and food security, the correlation between social dependence on corn and the corn growing areas being located along the Mississippi River watershed, farmers having to try to make farming a feasible career option, global warming, fishers being effected by low catch levels, etc. All of these issues play a role in the larger system of the Gulf and need to be accounted for to develop and implement a successful management plan.
The Iceberg model takes a close look at the various parts of a system and how they come together to work as a whole. The model states that similar to an iceberg, 90% of the issues surrounding a problem remain unseen. The major event represents the 10% that
we see above water, whereas below the water there are issues such as trends and
patterns, structure and mental models all of which need to be taken into account (Yates, n.d.). The objective of the model is to understand that things within a system influence one another within a whole, and that it is easier to understand a system by looking at the relationships between the parts rather than looking at them in isolation (Ambler, 2006). Using the Iceberg model to examine the issue of hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico will allow managers to take a closer look at the social, political, and economic issues that are embedded in the American system, which affect the Gulf of Mexico as a whole. In the past, these underlying issues have prevented managers from developing successful plans to control this environmental issue. The Iceberg model will help to uncover the interrelationships between outside factors that contribute to the overall system of the Gulf of Mexico, which will bring these factors to light and uncover the patterns of change within the system and help us work towards a positive management solution.
Over the years the size of the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico has varied, which is a result of a variety of reasons, including amount of rainfall, temperature and the amount of sunshine, and most importantly the amount of nutrients that have been applied to crops along the Mississippi river. Each of these issues on their own present difficulties for the Gulf. Higher rainfall results in increased runoff from farm fields, large amounts of sunlight warms the water and provides energy for algae growth, and excess nutrients applied to crops wash into rivers and streams and end up in the Gulf. When these issues are looked at together as part of the overall system, it becomes clear that in combination these three elements present a large hurdle that the Gulf must overcome to return to a healthy normoxic state. The pattern of these three elements contributing to the growth of the dead zone is apparent when we start to look at how things have been changing as gulf pollution increases. Global warming is an important issue that is causing worldwide change and playing a part in the growth of the Gulf dead zone. As the world’s climate continues to rise in temperature, the sun becomes stronger which increases the stratification of the water column and as a result the algae are provided with more energy to thrive on (Diaz, 2008). As the temperature continues to increase globally we will see more instances of algae blooms, which is a rapid increase in the population of algae in an aquatic system (Science Daily, 2010), resulting in larger dead zones. It is also believed that global warming will affect rainfall. Increased rainfall will result in more flooding and higher volumes of runoff (Water Encyclopedia, 2010). It has been noted that in years of drought the hypoxic area decreases and increases during years of flood (Rabalais, 2001). More rain will also present negative effects to agricultural production as it will cause more soil erosion, which implies relatively less soil infiltration (Water Encyclopedia, 2010). A slight possibility does exist of climate change helping to ease hypoxia. If the weather becomes stormier it could mix the fresh and salt water decreasing stratification, which would help to limit the risk of oxygen depletion. The mixing that would occur through storms would not be enough to eliminate hypoxic zones, only dissipate them for a short time (Diaz, 2008). Aside from increased temperatures and higher rainfalls, the Gulf has also had to deal with the large amounts of nitrogen that runs off of the agricultural crops, estimated at approximately 1.5 million metric tons annually (Greenhalgh, 2001). Over the years farmers have been applying more nitrogen rich fertilizer than their crops need to avoid the possibility of any decreased productivity (Raloff, 2004). Nutrient influxes in estuaries have increased up to tenfold since the beginning of this century, with the greatest increase occurring after 1950 (Greenhalgh, 2001). It has been estimated that nitrate releases throughout the Mississippi River watershed would have to be cut in half from current amounts to significantly minimize the annual Gulf dead zone (Raloff, 2004). According to the NOAA (2009) “Recent research suggests that more hypoxia is resulting from the same level of nutrients going in to the water” (p. 2), which suggests that there has been such a large shift in the system which will make it harder to shrink the size of the dead zone (NOAA, 2009). The large amounts of excess nutrients entering into the Gulf is linked not only to hypoxia but also habitat loss, fish kills, and blooms of toxic algae (NOAA, 2008). Aside from issues related to climate change and excess nutrients, hypoxia has also created a pattern of change within the fishery of the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf of Mexico is the source of 72 percent of the total U.S. harvested shrimp, 66 percent of the harvested oysters, and 16 percent of the U.S. commercial fish harvest (News & Views, 1999). The hypoxic area in the Gulf of Mexico appears in the same place as shrimp habitat and shrimp fishing grounds. Studies have found that the hypoxic areas are having a negative effect on the shrimp fishery (Zimmerman, 2001 & O’Connor, 2007) and that the catch per unit of effort for brown shrimp in the Gulf has trended down since the late 1970’s (Zimmerman, 2001). This is unfortunate news not only for the species itself, but also for the fishermen and the economy, to which the fishery generates $2.8 billion annually (NCDDC, 2010). Effects of hypoxia on fishery resources include direct mortality, altered migration, reduction in suitable habitat, increased susceptibility to predation (including by humans), changes in food resources, and disruption of life cycles (Rabalais, 2001).
There are many variables within the structure of the American political, economic, and social systems that have played a role in the continued destruction of the Gulf of Mexico. The U.S. government has created limits for major releases of nitrate into the environment because high concentrations can be toxic to wildlife and humans; however, low, diffuse nitrate emissions, from such sources as farm runoff are largely unregulated (Raloff, 2004). Aside from limited federal regulation there are also issues with localized legislation and few agricultural subsidy incentives for land stewardship, which are preventing action being taken to resolve the issue of the dead zone (Mississippi 1, 2010). This lack of regulation results in nutrient concentration in waterways where they damage ecosystem and increase the risk of hypoxia (Raloff, 2004). In 1994 the U.S. government recognized that a problem existed in the Gulf of Mexico and passed the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act (NOAA. 2004). In 1997 the Mississippi River Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force (a branch of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) was established to study the causes and effects of
eutrophication in the Gulf of Mexico; coordinate activities to reduce the size, severity, and duration of the dead zone; and to improve the effects of hypoxia (Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force, 2010). In 2001 The Task Force released the Action Plan for Reducing, Mitigating and Controlling Hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico to assist with the management of the problem, which was updated in 2008 (Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force, 2010). However, despite the recognition of the problem, according to the NOAA (2007) “management of the dead zone is hampered by poor understanding of the quantitative relationship between hypoxia and populations of commercially and recreationally important living resources”. Agricultural runoff into the Gulf of Mexico is difficult to regulate and manage because there is such a large number of sources and it has been found that individual producers do not always recognize their own contribution to the larger problem (Hudson et al. 2005). It is also difficult to create new policies that reduce the amount of fertilizer used as it is a key input that has enabled U.S. agriculture to achieve its present capability for producing vast quantities of inexpensive food, such as corn, wheat, and sorghum (Papendick, 1987). Corn is a high nitrogen-demanding crop and has become a key element of the American food supply, which has increased the number of problems for the Gulf as the Corn Belt states in the upper Mississippi are the largest contributors of nitrate and phosphate pollution in the river (1 Mississippi, 2010). Using the example of corn production, it is easy to see how the dead zone of the Gulf of Mexico is closely related to the social, economic, and political structures of America; consumers demand vast amounts of low-cost food; the government continues to subsidize corn to keep prices low and to keep other products such as beef or high-fructose corn syrup cheap (MacLean, 2002); and the farmers are forced to grow large crops that can materialize quickly, which increases the amount of fertilizer used. Due to the fact that the application of nutrients on crops for food production has become such an large factor for food production for the U.S. it is important to realize that the complete elimination of fertilizers is unrealistic and that policy makers and managers need to look at ways to improve nitrogen efficiency to minimize environmental damage and costs to farmers (Papendick, 1987). The fact that the U.S. ranks among the richest and most powerful nations in the world has created a disconnect between the American lifestyle and the effects that this lifestyle has on the environment. When an entire nation’s society depends on cheap and abundant food, stress is placed on all of the systems that are connected to food production, and one of those systems happens to be the Gulf of Mexico. To effectively combat the dead zone in the Gulf the general public needs to become aware and educated on the topic of hypoxia. In a recent study, when asked the question “Have you heard of hypoxia or the hypoxic zone” only 12.4% of respondents reported awareness, showing that in fact, many Americans are unaware that their current lifestyle is having a major effect on the global environment (Hudson et al, 2005). These negative patterns of lack of government and public involvement have increased the size of the dead zone over the years, but could be resolved with the implementation of stronger policy and increased public education.
These political, economic, and social structures have remained in place, causing the dead zone to grow, due to the fact the majority of American citizens have given up their voice and allowed industry and government to make decisions for the individual. Industry has accepted this offering of power and now makes the bulk of decisions that affect communities and individuals alike. North Americans live in a consumer driven society which can be manipulated by mass media (Brooks, 2007), and in many cases to go against the grain results in a negative image. This results in the creation of a passive society, where having a 61.6% voter turnout is considered to be a good year (US Elections Project, 2010). We live in an age where life is fast paced and to keep up we have made certain sacrifices: overpopulated cities, fast food, excessive amounts of waste and pollution, etc. With all of these sacrifices public stakeholders should be taking greater responsibility and getting more involved and taking greater action. When industry bombards consumers with ads and images of cheap corn based products instead of rushing out to buy a big mac, American citizens need to take a step back and be able to make the association between the products and the effects that they are having on their personal and environmental health. Stakeholders need to assume their rights and demand improved environmental conditions concerning food production. Stakeholders need to demand increased government policy surrounding land use and water quality. Finally, stakeholders need to demand improved management plans of the Mississippi River basin. The cycle of applying excessive nutrients to crops, causing runoff into the river, which ends up in the Gulf, where hypoxia forms, needs to become a household issue if it is to be resolved. By applying pressure on fellow stakeholders, government, and industry it will become evident that land use and water quality are issues that citizens must be involved in during the discussion and decision-making process. Stewardship, the efforts to create, nurture, and enable responsibility in landowners and resource users to manage and protect land and its natural and cultural heritage (Brown, 2000), is an important approach that can help minimize issues in the Gulf. To be effective environmental stewardship must become closely intertwined with American culture. Environmental stewardship can help rekindle the feeling of community and encourage others to take action and responsibility for the health of their water. In the end it is up to the average citizen to transform the existing social beliefs by becoming more aware of the issues and areas of concern that industry and government make decisions on without consulting the general public. Without the acceptance of responsibility for the current environmental situation of the planet, stakeholders need to realize that in the end they are the people that must deal with the outcome of the final decisions that are made.
Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico has grown at an alarming rate over the past 50 years
and will continue to do so if the political, social, and economic systems involved in the Gulf of Mexico do not change. The Iceberg model has allowed for a closer look at the topic of hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico and has revealed that this environmental concern goes beyond the scientific issues consistently mentioned in research, but also includes a deeply rooted interrelationship with the social system involving the citizens and their lack of acceptance of environmental stewardship. In the past, management of the Gulf was focused on the scientific aspects that affect the dead zone, such as weather, rainfall, and nutrient runoff. The social, political, and economic structures within the American system also play a large role in the management, or lack of management of the Gulf and must be addressed to develop a suitable management plan. These structures have remained in place due to the beliefs held by the American citizens, in terms of their ability to take action in regards to decisions that are being made by industry and government, which affect the environmental system of America. In the end, the issue of hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico exists because of the dependence on cheap food and America’s push to produce crops as quickly as possible with reliance on fertilizer and limited policy protecting the environment from these issues. In order to ensure proper management of hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico it is up to the citizens of the U.S. to take the initiative and become educated on the subject and involved in the decision-making process.
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(This paper was written for my Management Without Borders class.)
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