2018 Hypoxia Forecast
“The June 2018 forecast of the size of the hypoxic zone in the northern Gulf of Mexico for late July 2018 is that it will cover 17,250 km2 (6,660 mi2) of the bottom of the continental shelf off Louisiana and Texas. The 95% confidence interval is that it will be between 14,628 and 19,727 km2 (5,648 and 7,617 mi2).”
What is hypoxia?
Hypoxia, or low oxygen, is an environmental phenomenon where the concentration of dissolved oxygen in the water column decreases to a level that can no longer support living aquatic organisms. Hypoxic areas, or “Dead Zones,” have increased in duration and frequency across our planet’s oceans since first being noted in the 1970s.
The largest hypoxic zone currently affecting the United States, and the second largest hypoxic zone worldwide, is the northern Gulf of Mexico adjacent to the Mississippi River.
Gulf hypoxia in the news:
World’s largest ‘dead zone’ discovered, and it’s not in the Gulf of Mexico
Algal blooms that rob water of oxygen swirl across the Arabian Sea in 2015. New research indicates the sea has the world's largest low-oxygen 'dead zone.' Photo Credit: NASA Tristan Baurick / The [...]
Gulf of Oman now world’s largest oxygen-depleted ‘dead zone’
Green algae swirls on the beach of Bandar al-Jissah in Oman on March 3, 2017. The Gulf of Oman turns green twice a year for about three months at a time, when an algae [...]
The Arabian Sea’s Suffocating ‘Dead Zone’ Is Even Larger Than We Imagined
A US warship cruises through the Gulf of Oman. Photo: US Navy By George Dvorsky / Gizmodo April 27, 2018 Since the early 1960s, scientists have known about the so-called “dead zone” in [...]
Gulf of Mexico ‘dead zone’ will persist for decades
By Doyle Rice / USA Today March 26, 2018 The annual “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico, which last year was the size of New Jersey, will continue for several decades, a new study said. A [...]
Study: ‘Legacy’ nitrogen also feeds Gulf of Mexico dead zone
By JANET McCONNAUGHEY/ AP Mar. 22, 2018 NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Gulf of Mexico’s “dead zone” will be an unwanted summer visitor for decades, Canadian scientists say. They say the oxygen-starved patch would persist [...]
Gulf of Mexico expert discusses “Dead Zone”
The Shell Oil Endowed Chair in Oceanography and Coastal Sciences at Louisiana State University Nancy N. Rabalais speaks on a growing concern to the Gulf of Mexico, a hypoxic zone where organisms struggle to [...]
A U.S. farm bill even a butterfly could love?
Photo courtesy of Mike Reese Andy McGlashen / Ensia March 20, 2018 Sometime soon — maybe this year, maybe next — biologist Jeffrey Glassberg expects to say goodbye to the Poweshiek skipperling. The [...]