Biofuels Boom And Flooding To Lead To Record Dead Zone In Gulf Of Mexico

The oxygen-depleted “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico will reach record proportions this year because a surge in fertilizer use, connected with corn ethanol production, and widespread flooding have led to extensive algal blooms. Scientists from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Louisiana State University forecast that the dead zone — in which algal blooms remove oxygen from water and suffocate marine life — will reach 8,800 square miles, roughly equal in size to Israel. That’s twice as large as the annual average since 1990 and one-third larger than the previous record dead zone in 2006. This year, the U.S. is growing 33 percent more corn for ethanol than in 2007. Massive Midwestern floods washed much of the fertilizer into the Mississippi River and its tributaries, leading to a record 83,000 tons of phosphorous pouring into the Gulf of Mexico this spring. The dead zones are located near the coast, forcing fishermen farther offshore.