Gulf of Mexico 'dead zone' now as vast as Connecticut, set to kill off massive marine life

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: The dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico is growing bigger and surprisingly it is now roughly as large as the state of Connecticut, says National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in its annual forecast.

According to NOAA forecast, the oxygen-deficient zone will soon spread to an area of 5,898 square miles. Dead zone is the area uninhabitable by marine life due to little or no oxygen levels.

Also known as hypoxic zones, these are created by either naturally or by human activities. The discharge from agriculture and other human activity increase the amount of nitrogen that causes overgrowth of algae.

As a result of dead algae deposition, the oxygen concentration in such coastal regions fall below two mg/litre which thereby forces marine life to flee out of the area.

Scientists also warn that increase in size of dead zone could kill massive amount of fish in Gulf of Mexico this year.

NOAA will release the confirmed area of 2016 Gulf of Mexico dead zone in early August after monitoring survey from July 24 to August 1.

There are about 550 identified dead zones worldwide.