Annual forecasts for the “dead zone” in the northern Gulf of Mexico predict the area of water with depleted oxygen levels will be about average in size this year.
What’s less certain is whether government efforts to reduce its size will falter as the Trump administration scales back agencies involved in the process.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts the dead zone will be around 5,500 square miles this summer. Some estimates suggest it will be a little smaller, including those from LSU research scientists Nancy Rabalais and R. Eugene Turner. Their study predicts the hypoxic zone to be around 4,800 square miles, taking into account how warmer water temperatures have altered the Gulf’s complex food web, helping reduce the dead zone.
