This summer could bring an absolute record, unfortunately a bad one, for the “dead zone” off the coast of Louisiana and Texas, in the Golf of Mexico. A report released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration revealed that the size of the area could reach an all-time high of approximately 8,800 square miles, compared to 7,900 square miles in 2007.

“Dead zones” are low-oxygen areas in oceanic waters that are unable to support life. They are usually produced by large amounts of nutrients in the water, which leads to excessive algae growth. When the algae decompose, they interfere with the development of other plant and fish species in the area by reducing oxygen levels to such point that they become extinct.

Scientific reports have shown that over the past five decades, oxygen levels have considerably declined in regions of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, putting a lot of pressure of marine ecosystems, and carrying consequences that could reflect in our economy as well.

As NOAA pointed out, the dead zones should be of particular concern not only from the biological point of view, but also from our point of view, as it threatens valuable commercial and recreational fisheries.

There’s no doubt about it that the responsibility for these oxygen-depleted zones are us, humans, through reckless activities that cause large influxes of nitrogen (scientists measured nearly triple nitrogen levels into the Gulf in the past 50 years), which support the rapid growth in size of the “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico.

As Rob Magnien, director of NOAA’s Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research explained, the studies have indicated that “the excess nutrients from the Mississippi River watershed during spring are the primary human-influenced factor behind the expansion of the dead zone.”

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, together with federal, state and local organizations, are currently trying to find ways of reducing the size of the oxygen-depleted zone off the coast of Louisiana and Texas.