GoM ‘dead zone’ could be record

This summer’s low-oxygen “dead zone” on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico off the coasts of Louisiana and Texas will likely be close to record size - roughly the size of Massachusetts – or 7,829 square miles, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced June 10. Researchers are warning that the increased-size zone, estimated by modeling of nutrients carried into the GoM by record-high Mississippi River levels, could be repeated in years to come because of the effects of climate change. The latest National Climate Assessment predicts an increase in the frequency of heavy rains in the Southeast, Midwest, and Great Plains regions, which likely would impact nutrient input to the northern Gulf of Mexico and the size of the hypoxic zone, Steve Thur, director of NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, says in a media release. NOAA models were conducted at five universities and the U.S. Geological Survey for NOAA. However, another model conducted at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia predicted the low-oxygen zone would expand to as much as 10,000 square miles by August. The record measurement of a dead zone was 8,776 square miles, set in July 2017. (Source: NOLA.com 06/10/19)