June 5, 2020 — NOAA scientists announced on 3 June that the forecast for the Gulf of Mexico hypoxic area, more commonly referred to as the “dead zone,” will be larger than average in 2020.
The current forecast of the dead zone – an area of low to no oxygen that can kill fish and other marine life – predicts an area of roughly 6,700 square miles, which is larger than the recent average measured size of the dead zone of 5,387 square miles. For comparison, 6,700 square miles is roughly the size of the U.S. states of Rhode Island and Connecticut combined.