The Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone

Dead Zones are areas where large amounts of fertilizer runoff (nitrogen and phosphorous), sewage, animal waste and erosion enters our rivers. When they reach the mouth of the river, they are concentrated enough to cause a problem. The waste causes an algai bloom where oxygen consuming bacteria feeds on it. In the process, most or all of the oxygen in the water is used up and animal life either has to flee or be killed. (I wondered why there always seems to be a fish kill in the Gulf in summer and the news often reports something called Red Tide.)

In other words, if we control the amount of organic waste we are allowing to enter our rivers, we can control the size of the dead zone that is formed. They are seasonal because the crops are fertilized on a seasonal basis but as our farming moves further and further from organic practices, more and more fertilizer is needed. At what point do we tip the balance and cause permanent damage?

When I started this lens, I had no idea that we would be facing the oil well disaster that the Gulf of Mexico is facing today. Much has been said about the 100 million gallons of crude that is spewing out of the hole in the ground caused by the exploded well BP was drilling. The oil is bad enough but from what I am hearing, there are a lot of other gasses coming up with the oil that could have an even greater impact.

One article talks about the amount of methane that is forming in concentrated amounts there.

Another one talks about natural gas and what it could potentially do.

The point is, no one really knows what is happening or the long term effects we will face from it. Oil might end up being the least of our problems.