Item

Abstract

Oxygen-deficient zones (ODZs) are regions in the ocean that contain very low concentrations, or even no, dissolved oxygen. Marine life may not be able to survive in ODZs, so how these zones may be affected by the warmer temperatures that climate change will cause is a question of vital importance. Duprey et al. present a record of nitrogen isotopes in coral skeletons from the Eastern Tropical North Pacific showing that oxygen levels there vary in phase with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). These results indicate that the future of the Pacific ODZ, the world’s largest, will depend on how global warming influences the amplitude of the decadal changes of the PDO. —Jesse Smith