Gulf of Mexico dead zone bigger than expected

Researchers say this year’s "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico is larger than average – and larger than expected.  

Scientists said the dead zone is nearly 6500 square miles or an area roughly the size of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined.  

Previous estimates were that the dead zone would be about 5500 square miles – federal researchers said the  larger than expected zon ewas caused by heavy June rains throughout the Mississippi River watershed.

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 zone is caused by nitrates and nitrogen from fertilizer and urban runoff flowing down the Mississippi River.

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.

The largest hypoxic zone measured to date occurred in 2002 and encompassed more than 8,400 square miles.  



http://live.oysterradio.com/