Death by Suffocation in the Gulf of Mexico

LAFITTE, LOUISIANA-- Scientists have traced the origins of a vast hypoxic, or oxygen-poor, region in the Gulf of Mexico to inland fertilizer use; now officials must decide what to do about it. Researchers first documented this periodic dead zone off the Mississippi9s mouth in the early 1970s, but it wasn9t until 1985 that they began to step up research efforts by taking oxygen readings at dozens of offshore stations. Now concern is rising that smaller oxygen-depleted regions off the U.S. coast could also grow. Because the gulf9s is one of more than 50 similar oxygen-starved coastal regions worldwide, any steps taken to heal the gulf will be monitored intently across the globe.