Dead zone may set record By Nikki Buskey, Houma Courier15 June 2011HOUMA — The colossal flow from this year’s record river flooding could trigger the Gulf’s largest-ever dead zone, scientists say. The area of low-to-no oxygen, which scientists attribute to fertilizer runoff flowing the Mississippi River from Midwest farms, blooms off the coasts of Louisiana [...]

Mississippi floods could mean huge Gulf "dead zone" By Deborah Zabarenko, Environment Correspondent REUTERS 14 June 2011WASHINGTON (Reuters) - This year's record Mississippi River floods are forecast to create the biggest Gulf of Mexico "dead zone" since systematic mapping began in 1985, U.S. scientists reported on Tuesday. Often created by farm chemical run-off carried to [...]

Midwest floods foretell record Gulf dead zone Area starved for oxygen could rival size of one of Great Lakes By ERIC BERGER, HOUSTON CHRONICLE Scientists predict this year's Gulf of Mexico dead zone will grow larger than any they have ever measured. Forecasters say the dead zone will reach its maximum extent later this summer [...]

Mississippi floods to create dead zone By Sheila McNulty, FINANCIAL TIMES 15 June 2011Scientists predict the recent record-breaking floods from the Mississippi River will create the largest oxygen-depleted “dead zone’’ since systematic mapping of such an area off the Louisiana shore began in 1985. Nancy Rabalais, executive director of the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, and [...]

NOAA predicts biggest dead zone yet for areas of Gulf By KAREN NELSON, BILOXI SUN HERALD 14 June 2011GULFPORT -- NOAA is predicting a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico along the coasts of Louisiana and Texas this summer larger than any on record, based on the amount of pollution coming down the Mississippi [...]

Record 'dead zone' predicted in Gulf of Mexico By Doyle Rice, USA Today17 July 2011    The majority of land in the Mississippi's watershed is farm land (in green). Each spring, as farmers fertilize their land in preparation for crop season, rain washes fertilizer off the land and into streams, rivers, and then the Gulf [...]

Challenges of keeping Mississippi River in check discussed at meeting of Louisiana coastal authority By Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, Times Picayune 16 June 2011 The Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority on Wednesday laid bare the multilayered and often contradictory juggling act that accompanies Mississippi River management, from the responsibility of dredging the river’s navigation channels, to its [...]

Dead zone is a grim reminder By Editorial Daily Comment, LaFourche Parish, LA 16 June 2011This spring has brought huge anxiety about possible flooding caused by high water levels in the Mississippi River. Although the river flooding never got to the stages originally predicted, the Mississippi River water could still have devastating impacts. Thanks to [...]

Major Flooding on Miss. River Likely to Cause Large Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone Environmental Protection By Environmental Protection Online17 June 2011Gulf of Mexico's hypoxic zone is predicted to be larger than average this year, due to extreme flooding of the Mississippi River this spring, according to an annual forecast by a team of NOAA-supported [...]

Researchers To Examine Scope and Scale Of Gulf Dead Zone By Texas A& M News and Information Services16 June 2011COLLEGE STATION, June 16, 2011 – Record flooding from the Mississippi River could result in the largest ever “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico, and two Texas A&M University oceanographers will try to determine the [...]