Nation needs a fresh view of its rivers By Mark Davis, Special to Viewpoint, The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tennessee11 August 2011"But the basin of the Mississippi is the BODY OF THE NATION." -- Mark Twain, "Life on the Mississippi" For several months this spring the Mississippi and Missouri rivers flexed their muscles and reminded us [...]
Act locally, thinksoutherly By Natalie Camplair, Twin Cities Daily Planet 18 August 2011This time of year, 1,000 miles south of Minnesota at the mouth of the Mississippi River there are 7,000 square miles of the Gulf of Mexico devoid of any form of life. The swath of ocean where oxygen levels drop so low that [...]
'Political Hypoxia' Over King Corn Killing Coastal Waters By Robert M. Thorson, Hartford Courant11 August 2011Political hypocrisy we understand. Political hypoxia we do not. In the familiar case, politicians say one thing but do another, and are often caught with their pants down. In the second case, a dearth of oxygen in political discussions involving [...]
Dead zone requires assistance By Editorial, Houma Courier10 August 2011The forecasts this year were frightening. The people who study the dead zone that develops each year in the Gulf of Mexico predicted that this summer’s could be the largest ever. They said upriver flooding during the spring would increase the amount of agricultural runoff and [...]
No Consistent Declines in Nitrate Levels in Large Rivers in the Mississippi River Basin By USGS Newsroom9 August 2011 Contact Information: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey Office of Communications and Publishing 12201 Sunrise Valley Dr, MS 119 Reston, VA 20192 Lori Sprague Phone: 303 236-6921 Bob Hirsch Phone: 703 648-5888 Kara Capelli [...]
EPA rejects dead zone cleanup plan By James Bruggers Louisville Courier-Journal 5 Aug 2011 Water quality advocates within the Mississippi Basin have been denied their request for national numeric water quality standards aimed at shrinking the size of the Gulf of Mexico’s "dead zone." The area of low to no oxygen forms every year, a [...]
Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone Smaller Than Predicted, Still Harmful By Environmental News Service5 August 2011CHAUVIN, Louisiana, August 5, 2011 (ENS) - This year's dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico is roughly equal to the land area of the state of New Jersey, scientists said this week. At 6,765 square miles, this area of [...]
Experts say more is needed to stop dead zone By Nikki Buskey, Houma Courier7 August 2011This year's dead zone, an area of oxygen-starved water that forms annually off the Louisiana coast, is smaller than expected. But scientists and environmentalists say that's an anomaly. They predict it will continue growing because little is done to control [...]
Scientists: dead zone stresses Gulf, action needed By CAIN BURDEAU, Associated Press 3 August 2011NEW ORLEANS -- Scientists say the massive area of low oxygen in the Gulf of Mexico, known as the "dead zone" because it kills marine species, will create more problems unless fewer fertilizers are dumped into the Mississippi River. Farm runoff [...]
The Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone Isn't Quite Record SizeBut It's Still Huge By BRYAN WALSH, TIME1 August 2011 Getty Images Hypoxia sounds like a treatment that pop stars would use to keep from aging, but it's actually one of the most serious—if underreported and invisible—environmental threats in the world. Hypoxia occurs when coastal waters become [...]