Federal scientists believe that the "Dead Zone" off the coast of Louisiana and Texas this summer will be larger than average this year

Federal scientists believe that the "Dead Zone" off the coast of Louisiana and Texas this summer will be larger than average this year.

They expect this summer's "Dead Zone" will be about 7800 square miles, an area about the size of New Hampshire.

That would make it the seventh largest on record.

The "dead zone" is a region of the Gulf of Mexico that annually suffers from low oxygen which can result in huge fish die offs.

The dead zone area typically develops in June and July following the spring flood stage of the rivers, which bring large amounts of nutrients – often in the form of fertilizer – into the Gulf of Mexico.

Researchers believe the zone has formed naturally for thousands of years but has been made worse since the early 1980s because of the growing use of nitrogen fertilizers in the Mississippi River watershed.

Scientists monitor the zone by boat from about 200 different locations, and also watch it using satellites.

The data they collect is available to the public.

You can find the information from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration web page at www.noaa.gov.

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