Growing dead zone
The Mighty Mississippi may be the lifeblood of Midwest agriculture, but for the sea animals living beyond the delta, it might as well be a cyanide bubble bath. Just off Louisiana's coast lies the world's second largest dead zone, an oxygen-depleted area of the ocean where marine life cannot well... live. A report by the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium expects the dead zone to grow to its largest size since 1985 -- the first year it was recorded. Erosion, fertilizers and the discharge from sewage treatment plants are the main culprits cited by the group of researchers. The nitrogen from these sources creates excess algae, which apparently gobbles up obscene amounts of oxygen and leaves none for the shrimp and crustaceans. If predictions hold true, the dead zone will reach 8,543 square miles.
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