dead zone

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Gulf of Mexico's Dead Zone Is Now Bigger Than Ever

Heavy rains in Midwest increased agricultural runoff this year

(Newser) - In 2014, the "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico was found to have shrunk to the size of Connecticut. To the ire of environmentalists, it has since ballooned to its largest size since mapping began in 1985, says NOAA . Covering 8,776 square miles—that's the size...

Gulf's Dead Zone Is the Size of Connecticut

Activists sue EPA to get stricter regulations

(Newser) - A Connecticut-sized swath of oxygen-deprived waters off the Gulf Coast is a "poster child for how we are using and abusing our natural resources," says one researcher in Louisiana. In its 30th annual survey, the Louisiana Marine Consortium shows the dead zone has shrunk to about 5,000...

Coming: Biggest Ever Dead Zone in Gulf of Mexico

Due to chemical runoff from farms along the Mississippi

(Newser) - Chemical runoff from farms along the Mississippi create “dead zones” each year in the Gulf of Mexico—areas where nitrogen, phosphorus, and animal manure settle, feeding the algae that steals the oxygen from all other living things. This year’s record flooding will likely lead to the biggest dead...

Four Years Later, 4 States Finally Get the iPhone

Montana, Dakotas, Wyoming aren't served by AT&T

(Newser) - For four years, residents of Montana, the Dakotas, and Wyoming were permanent wallflowers at the iPhone prom: AT&T doesn't serve those states, making them one giant dead zone. Today, Verizon starts selling the iPhone in the region, ending a long and painful wait for gadget lovers. “I remember...

Gulf 'Dead Zone' One of the Biggest Ever

Low-oxygen marine wasteland measures 7,772 square miles

(Newser) - The Gulf of Mexico is seeing one of the biggest low-oxygen areas—or "dead zones"—on record this year. A dead zone forms in the Gulf around this time every year, but the 2010 incarnation is 7,722 square miles, just a few hundred short of the record...

Algae Devouring Baltic
 Algae Devouring Baltic 

Algae Devouring Baltic

Country-sized growth threatens marine life

(Newser) - Record-breaking temperatures combined with farm run-off have caused an evil-smelling algae bloom the size of Germany to sprout in the Baltic Sea. The World Wildlife Fund warns that the algae explosion—the biggest in the region since 2005—endangers human as well as marine life, the Independent reports. The group...

Oxygen-Free Creatures Found Deep in Mediterranean

Species can live and reproduce in Ocean's dead zones

(Newser) - Scientists have discovered the first known creatures that can survive and reproduce without oxygen. The three new species from the Loricifera group were found deep in the "dead," or oxygen-free, zone of the Mediterranean Sea. One of the minuscule animals—approximately a millimeter long—looks like a jellyfish...

Fears Mount Over Gulf of Mexico 'Dead Zone'

Only Dolly kept oxygen-free area from becoming largest ever

(Newser) - Scientists are  increasingly concerned about the growing "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico, an oxygen-poor mass of water that cannot sustain most sea life, which now covers 8,000 square miles, nearly the largest ever. Created by fertilizer runoff from the Mississippi, the zone would be even bigger...

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