Fertilizer Runoff Creates Connecticut-Sized ‘Dead Zone’ in Gulf

The Mississippi River Delta. Photographer: Jeff Greenberg/Universal Images Group Editorial/Getty Images
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A so-called dead zone for marine life in the Gulf of Mexico caused in part by fertilizer runoff will be about the size of Connecticut this summer.

That’s according to a forecast by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists released Thursday. At 4,880 square miles, it’s down from a record large one in 2017, but close to the five-year average.