The ocean covers most of our planet.

It looks endless.

But beneath the surface, something essential is changing.

In some parts of the ocean, oxygen is disappearing.

And when the oxygen runs out, marine life has nowhere left to breathe.

In The Ocean Is Running Out of Breath, we explore the science behind declining ocean oxygen, the expanding low-oxygen zones known as dead zones, and what this could mean for marine ecosystems and the future of our planet.

Oxygen enters the ocean through the atmosphere and is also produced by microscopic marine organisms through photosynthesis.

That decomposition consumes oxygen.

If oxygen is consumed faster than it can be replaced, the water becomes hypoxic.

Fish and other animals may flee.

Less mobile organisms can die. ...