The deep waters just off these shores are victim to a troubling new symptom of climate change: dead zones caused by disruption of the natural ocean currents that cycle nutrients and oxygen through the water. (Author of the study Jack Barth, of Oregon State University, says "it's important to realize that the surface layers of the Oregon ocean are very much alive!")

The New Jersey-sized dead zone off the Oregon-Washington coastline—precariously close to renowned beaches including Ecola State Park and the Devil's Punchbowl—began to form in 2002 and was largest in 2005.

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