NOAA Scientists: 'Dead Zone' Off Gulf Coast 'Half The Size Of Maryland'

July 24, 2006 — A team of scientists from the NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium and Louisiana State University is forecasting that the "Dead Zone" off the coast of Louisiana and Texas this summer will be larger than the average size since 1990. (Click NOAA image for larger view of Bottom Dissolved Oxygen Contours in the Gulf of Mexico taken July 14-16, 2006. Click here for high resolution version. Please credit “NOAA.”)

This NOAA supported modeling effort, led by Eugene Turner, Ph.D., of LSU, predicts this summer's "Dead Zone" will be 6,700 square miles, an area the half the size of the state of Maryland. Since 1990 the average annual hypoxia-affected area has been approximately 4,800 square miles. The forecast is based on nitrate loads from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers in May and incorporates the previous year's load to the system. The nitrogen data are provided by the U.S. Geological Survey. NOAA funds research cruises to track development of hypoxia.