Predictions vary for dead zone size Published: Friday, June 22,
2012 at 12:44 p.m. Last Modified: Friday, June 22, 2012 at 12:44
p.m. Forecasts predicting the size of this year’s Gulf of Mexico
dead zone vary widely, ranging from a low of 1,197 square miles
to as much as 6,213 square miles. The area of low-to-no oxygen
water that threatens Gulf sea life forms annually off Louisiana.
Both predictions are smaller than last year’s recorded dead
zone, which measured almost 6,765 square miles. The wide range
is the result of differing forecast models. This year’s river
flow has been low, bringing fewer dead zone-causing nutrients
down to the Gulf. But scientists from LSU and the LUMCON
research center in Cocodrie said they suspect material deposited
in the Gulf during 2011’s river flooding will continue to
influence the dead zone this year. “Regardless of the size of
the dead zone, we should not lose sight of the ongoing need to
reduce the flow of nutrients to the Mississippi River and thus
the Gulf,” said Jane Lu