Dead zone fourth-smallest since ’85
The summertime “dead zone’’ off the Louisiana coast — largely tied to Midwestern crop fertilizers — this year was the fourth-smallest since annual measurements began in 1985, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported. The large expanse of low oxygen covered 2,720 square miles, making it about the size of Delaware. Though it was smaller this year, that area still is 50 percent larger than the goal of a federal task force. The dead zone, which can vary with rainfall and wind conditions, averaged 5,770 square mile average from 2014 to 2018. Last year, it hit a record at 8,776 square miles.
Trending News
