"Gulf of Mexico's Low-Oxygen 'Dead Zone' 4th Smallest Since 1985"

"The summertime low-oxygen "dead zone" along Louisiana's Gulf Coast is dramatically smaller in 2018 -- 2,720 square miles, or the size of the state of Delaware --  a team of researchers announced Tuesday (July 31).

That's the fourth smallest dead zone since 1985, but it's still 50 percent larger than a target size set in 2008 by a federal task force concerned about the effects of hypoxia -- oxygen levels of 2 parts per million or less in water -- on Gulf fisheries.

The findings were announced by researchers from Louisiana State University, the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium and NOAA."

Mark Schleifstein reports for the New Orleans Times-Picayune July 31, 2018.