Scientists say Midwestern farms cause large dead zone By Sarah Lohman, McClatchy NewspapersKansas City Star; June 10, 2008http://www.kansascity.com/news/nation/story/658690.html WASHINGTON | Scientists predicting the biggest-ever “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico are blaming Midwestern farms. The corn grown for ethanol creates high levels of pollution that escape down the Mississippi River, they said. “In the [...]

Dead zone in Gulf could be biggest ever recorded Houma Courier; June 11, 2008http://www.houmatoday.com/article/20080611/ARTICLES/806110358http://www.houmatoday.com/article/20080610/HURBLOG/824095386 HOUMA – Louisiana researchers are predicting that this year’s dead zone, the area of low-to-no oxygen that forms annually in the Gulf of Mexico, will be the largest ever recorded. Scientists expect the so-called “dead zone,” which has earned its nickname [...]

PRESS RELEASE: Dead Zone Present and Growing, Record Year Predicted10 June 2008 A team of scientists from Louisiana State University (LSU) and the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium is forecasting that the “Dead Zone” off the coast of Louisiana and Texas in July this summer will be the largest since shelfwide measurements began in 1985.  The [...]

Is corn boom expanding Gulf of Mexico's 'dead zone'? By Conrad WilsonStar Tribune, June 2 2008http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/19473599.html?location_refer=Lifestyle Some fear an ethanol-fueled harvest in the Midwest may be behind the hard times for marine life at the other end of the Mississippi River.  WASHINGTON - Last fall, the farm fields of the Midwest yielded record profits and [...]

Dead Zones Grow in the Gulf of Mexico By Kent GarberU.S. News and World Report; June 6, 2008http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/national/2008/06/06/dead-zones-grow-in-the-gulf-of-mexico.html How U.S. farming policy leads to 'dead zones,' huge marine areas where nothing can grow Each spring, the cycle of death begins anew. Nitrogen and phosphorus, leached from fertilizer, pass from farmland into streams, from streams into [...]

Dead waterMay 15, 2008; The Economisthttp://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displayStory.cfm?story_id=11367884&subjectID=348924&fsrc=nwl Too much nitrogen being washed into the sea is causing dead zones to spread alarmingly  NEW life generally flourishes in the spring, unless it is marine life in the Gulf of Mexico. Every spring the coastal waters turn into a scene of devastation and death. Known as a “dead [...]

My Trip to the Dead Zone By Justin MartinPoint of Vue, Houma; May 2008http://www.povhouma.com/Articles/2008/05_May/lv_03_0508.HTML I woke, and the bed was rocking. When my feet found the floor in the absolute darkness, I realized it wasn’t just the bed; the whole room was rocking. There was a slow, steady roll under the floor, and I didn’t [...]

Water pollution: Dawn of the 'Dead Zones' By Matt Ford for CNNCNN; April 21, 2008http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/04/20/eco.waterpollution/Story HighlightsAgricultural pollution has caused a 'Dead Zone' in the Gulf of MexicoGlobally the number of Dead Zones has doubled every decade since the 1980'sThe drive to increase biofuel production could increase pollution in rivers and seasPesticide use rose 1000 percent [...]

Lake Erie undergoing 'huge' ecological changes By Sonja PuzicThe Windsor Star; April 28, 2008 PUT-IN-BAY, OHIO -- The Franz Theodore Stone Laboratory on tiny historic  Gibraltar Island in western Lake Erie has hosted generations of students, young biologists and leading researchers for more than 100 years. Nestled among a cluster of other smaller islands near [...]

NEWS ANALYSIS: Fuel Choices, Food Crises and Finger-Pointing By Andrew MartinNew York Times; April 15, 2008http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/15/business/worldbusiness/15food.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&sq=Fuel%20Choices,%20Food%20Crises%20and%20Finger-Pointing%20&st=nyt&scp=1 But now a reaction is building against policies in the United States and Europe to promote ethanol and similar fuels, with political leaders from poor countries contending that these fuels are driving up food prices and starving poor people. [...]