Dead zones in the ocean are increasing in size
and numbers. Larger than Rhode Island, areas
of low to zero oxygen are killing everything in the
water and consequently everything that feeds from
the water.

"What's catching us by surprise is the rate at
which warming is hitting us. And, of course, how
fast the ocean has changed -- that is what amazes me."

...these "dead zones," which suffocate crabs, fish, sea
stars, and anemones on the ocean floor, have continued,
with 2006 now on the books as the largest, most severe
and longest lasting dead zone on record for the west coast.

"It was unlike anything that we've measured along the Oregon
coast in the past five decades," says Francis Chan of Oregon
State University.

More:
 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070218140507.htm