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THANK Don for a smaller-than-expected dead zone. The region of oxygen-poor water in the Gulf of Mexico has been measured at 17,520 square kilometres this year – smaller than feared following the massive flooding of the Mississippi in April and May.
The river emptied nutrient-rich water into the gulf, causing a brief algal bloom that robbed the sea floor of oxygen when the algae died and decayed. The main reason that the dead zone was relatively small is tropical storm Don, says Nancy Rabalais of the Louisiana…
