Tagged: dead zone

Kentucky regulators say the state will develop a more comprehensive strategy for controlling nutrient water pollution, which commonly comes from sources like sewage treatment plants and agricultural runoff. Regulators from a dozen states and five federal agencies met in Louisville today to discuss the pollution, and how it contributes to hypoxia.

‘Dead Zones’ are areas of low-oxygen levels in the ocean, caused by nutrient pollution. The world’s second-largest dead zone forms every summer in the Gulf of Mexico, thanks to runoff from farms and sewage treatment plants. While the pollution kills aquatic life in the dead zone, it can also kill fish and cause algae blooms upstream.

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced the recipients of their 'Genius Grants' yesterday, and one of them is a scientist dedicated to studying the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. Nancy Rabalais is a marine ecologist and the executive director of the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium.