NOAA forecasts an average summer 'dead zone' in Gulf of America
phys.org
NOAA is forecasting this summer's Gulf of America (formerly Gulf of Mexico) "dead zone" to be average-sized, covering approximately 5,574 square miles—an area roughly three times the size of Delaware. The dead zone, or hypoxic zone, is an area of low oxygen that can kill fish and other marine life. It occurs every summer and is primarily a result of excess nutrient pollution from human activities in cities and farm areas throughout the Mississippi-Atchafalaya watershed.

I find the verbage of “average sized dead zone” to be an interesting gauge of how normalized environmental destruction is becoming. As if a massive section of hypoxic oceaniss to be expected.

  • shalafi@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    22 days ago

    I don’t have an answer. Look at the map, the Mississippi is one hell of a watershed. How do we keep the farmland fertilizers out of it?

    I studied horticulture, first time I understood what the quadratic equation was really for was when tasked with optimizing fertilizer spread. Farmers aren’t slinging that shit around for fun.

    Best I got is cracking on animal waste. Oklahoma was suing Arkansas for all the poultry waste coming down and destroying the Arkansas River. No idea what became of all that, couple of decades since I’ve been there.