2019 Shelfwide Cruise
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:
Federal officials gather in Baton Rouge for latest meeting on Gulf of Mexico’s dead zone
Kelly Beile / BRProud.com 17 May 2019 Federal officials gather in Baton Rouge for latest meeting on Gulf of Mexico's dead zone Federal officials with the United States Environmental Protection Agency gathered in downtown Baton [...]
‘Large to very large’ Gulf of Mexico dead zone expected this year; Here’s what caused it
Steve Hardy / The Advocate 16 May 2019 Scientists are predicting a "large to very large" Gulf of Mexico dead zone this year. It may even wind up being the largest on record. Experts discussed [...]
Flooding makes big ‘dead zone’ off Louisiana coast likely
Janet McConnaughey / AP 16 May 2019 NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The year’s widespread flooding has made it likely that a big, oxygen-starved “dead zone” off Louisiana’s coast will form this summer, the head of [...]
How Historic Flooding in the Midwest Could Fuel the Gulf of Mexico ‘Dead Zone’
Brian Kahn / Earther 27 March 2019 Photo: Getty The byzantine networks of rivers and streams that drain the Midwest is facing a flooding crisis of historic proportions. The multibillion disaster centered in [...]
All of Louisiana will be at some flood risk in spring, experts predict in new outlook
Steve Hardy / The Advocate 21 March 2019 The Mr. Andre', a DAL-CO Marine Services supply boat, passes in front of the Louisiana State Capitol, seen across the Mississippi River from the Old Ferry [...]
TREADING WATER | Unfocused and underfunded, goal of cleaner water falters
Erin Jordan / The Gazette 3 December 2018 Chapter 1: America’s Midwest faces worsening trouble with undrinkable well water, recreational lakes choked with toxic algae and water treatment plants requiring budget-busting upgrades to remove pollution [...]
‘Dead zone’ worsens troubles for Louisiana shrimpers
Erin Jordan / The Gazette2 December 2018 'They need to say it's against the law to pollute downstream' Tommy Olander Jr. on Aug. 9 drives his family's shrimping boat in Vermillion Bay off the Louisiana [...]