Smaller Gulf dead zone this year

http://www.livescience.com/21971-drought-smaller-gulf-dead-zone.html:

Though the parched conditions have wreaked havoc on natural habitat and agricultural crops, drought may have one upside, bringing the fourth smallest dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico since mapping of this annual oxygen-free zone began in 1985.

http://www.capitolcolumn.com/news/noaa-report-study-suggest-chronic-drought/:

Every year, nutrient runoff from agriculture and other sources flows from the Mississippi River, causing high levels of algae growth. This growth sinks and decomposes, consuming nearby underwater oxygen and forming “hypoxic zones,” or oxygen-free zones, particularly in the Gulf of Mexico. One such hypoxic zone is the prominent “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico, which has, in the past five years, had an average area of 5,684 square miles.

A report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) revealed that an NOAA-supported investigation has found that the dead zone this year measures only 2,889 miles, just over half the average area.

According to Nancy Rabalaid, the executive director of Louisiana University’s Marine Consortium and the leader of the survey, “The smaller area was expected because of drought conditions and the fact that nutrient output into the Gulf this spring approached near the 80-year record low.”


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