A 'dead zone' has formed near Louisiana and Texas: scientists can't do anything about it

Off the coast of Louisiana and Texas, a "dead zone" is forming in the Gulf of Mexico. Scientists can't do anything about it ABC News.

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Decades of work by scientists have not reduced the oxygen-depleted so-called dead zone that forms annually in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana and Texas.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts it will be around the 35-year average this year. This is almost three times more than what is needed to reduce the area with a lack of oxygen for the survival of marine animals.

Combining models developed by five universities predicts that 13 square kilometers will become a "dead zone," according to a NOAA press release. This is slightly below the five-year average of 893 square miles (5 sq km) and about 380% less than last year.

In 2001, a group of scientists set a long-term goal of reducing the "dead zone" to 1900 square miles (4920 sq km), about 35% of the current average.

“The plan to reduce the size of the Gulf of Mexico dead zone was developed more than 20 years ago, but the forecast for this year is almost the same as it was 35 years ago,” said Don Scavia of the University of Michigan, who leads one of several research groups.

“Apparently, federal agencies, state agencies and Congress continue to prioritize industrial agriculture over water quality,” Scavia said.

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The "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico is largely created by urban and agricultural runoff, as well as nitrogen and phosphorus emissions into the Mississippi River, which feeds 41% of the continental United States. In the Gulf of Mexico, overgrown algae supply nutrients, which die and sink to the bottom, depleting oxygen from the ocean floor as they decompose.

Fish, shrimp and crabs can swim away. Animals that are slower or live on the bottom cannot.

“The Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone remains the largest hypoxic zone in United States waters, and we want to gain insight into its causes and impacts,” said Nicole LeBoeuf, assistant administrator for NOAA's National Ocean Service. “The modeling we do here is an important part of NOAA's goal to protect and restore coastal and ocean resources.”

The problem is by no means unique to the United States.

“The number of dead zones worldwide has increased over the past few decades and now numbers more than 500,” wrote Louisiana State University scientist Nancy Rabalais, who has been studying the phenomenon since 1985.

In 1999, researchers were aware of 61 hypoxic zones around the world.

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The one that stretches along most of the coast of Louisiana and reaches the waters of Texas, is the second largest man-made coastal hypoxic region in the world's oceans.

Some universities make their own predictions. LSU, which lists nitrogen levels in May as a major factor in determining the size of the "dead zone", forecasts a size of 5 square miles (881 km15) this year.

Officials noted that the infrastructure law, signed in November 2021, provides the EPA with $60 million over five years to support watershed nutrient reduction strategies.

“The Hypoxia Task Force has a transformational opportunity to further control nutrients in the Mississippi River basin and reduce the size of the hypoxic zone,” said John Goodin, spokesman for the Environmental Protection Agency.

To confirm the size of the hypoxic zone and refine forecast models, NOAA conducts a monitoring survey each summer.

Since hurricanes and tropical storms stir up water and raise oxygen, just one of them, if it occurs in the next two weeks, could significantly reduce the “dead zone”.

“If such a hurricane occurs, the area would be 56% of the predicted size without a hurricane,” or about 3 square miles (294 sq km).

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