Scientists say this year’s "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico is larger than was forecast in the Spring.
This year’s Gulf of Mexico “dead zone” is approximately 6,705 square miles, the 12th largest zone on record in 38 years of measurement.
That’s an area roughly the size of New Jersey.
The initial prediction was that the dead zone would be about 5800 square miles.
The Gulf dead zone forms each spring and summer off the Louisiana and Texas coast when oxygen levels drop too low to support most life in bottom and near-bottom waters.
The dead zone affects nationally important commercial and recreational fisheries and threatens the region’s economy.
The zone is caused by nitrates and nitrogen from fertilizer and urban runoff flowing down the Mississippi River.
When the excess nutrients reach the Gulf, they stimulate an overgrowth of algae, which eventually die and decompose, depleting oxygen as they sink to the bottom.
Fish, shrimp and crabs often swim out of the area, but animals that are unable to swim or move away can be stressed or killed.
The amount of nitrogen entering the Gulf of Mexico each spring has increased by about 300 percent since the 1960s, mainly due to increased agricultural runoff.
This year’s Gulf of Mexico “dead zone” is approximately 6,705 square miles, the 12th largest zone on record in 38 years of measurement.
That’s an area roughly the size of New Jersey.
The initial prediction was that the dead zone would be about 5800 square miles.
The Gulf dead zone forms each spring and summer off the Louisiana and Texas coast when oxygen levels drop too low to support most life in bottom and near-bottom waters.
The dead zone affects nationally important commercial and recreational fisheries and threatens the region’s economy.
The zone is caused by nitrates and nitrogen from fertilizer and urban runoff flowing down the Mississippi River.
When the excess nutrients reach the Gulf, they stimulate an overgrowth of algae, which eventually die and decompose, depleting oxygen as they sink to the bottom.
Fish, shrimp and crabs often swim out of the area, but animals that are unable to swim or move away can be stressed or killed.
The amount of nitrogen entering the Gulf of Mexico each spring has increased by about 300 percent since the 1960s, mainly due to increased agricultural runoff.
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