Growing 'dead zone' illustrates larger ecological problems to fisheries

In most places across North America, spring is the time of rebirth and renewal, of greening landscapes and emerging beauty. In the Gulf of Mexico, spring is a prelude to death. When I say death, let me be gin clear: I'm talking about the aptly named dead zone, a lifeless region off the coasts of Louisiana and Texas that's devoid of oxygen, and where aquatic and sea life often dies. If you're a fish, you either escape the dead zone or die of suffocation. It's that simple. This spring, scientists from Louisiana State University and Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium have made a bold prediction: The dead zone is going to grow this summer to its largest size since measurements began in 1990. The size: roughly the equivalent of Massachusetts, an estimated expanse covering roughly 10,000 square miles. That would make the dead... [read full story]