Gulf of Mexico


Satellite view of Gulf of Mexico

Ask an Expert: Reviving the Gulf of Mexico’s Dead Zone

, senior writer

September 11, 2020 12:30 PM EDT

Speaking to UCS Food and Environment Program economist Rebecca Boehm, about Reviving the Dead Zone, a report released this summer that provides the first comprehensive assessment of the Gulf of Mexico dead zone’s economic impact, and warns the root problem—agricultural nutrient pollution—will likely worsen due to climate change. The dead zone causes as much as $2.4 billion in damage to fisheries and marine habitat every year, the report found, but there are proven ways to clean it up that would benefit farmers and the fishing industry alike. Read more >

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Big, Colliding Problems in Gulf and Elsewhere Need Science-Based Solutions Now

, Economist

August 28, 2020 10:51 AM EDT

Hurricane Laura, one of the most intense hurricanes to hit the Gulf in over a century made landfall along the Texas-Louisiana border early this morning. But even before Laura hit today, 2020 has been a hard year for the Gulf. Many communities along our Southern coast face a multitude of big, colliding environmental and public problems. That includes longstanding ones as well as ones new this year. But regardless of when these problems began or how long they have afflicted the Gulf, they can only be adequately addressed with policies that are firmly grounded in science. Read more >

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Southern Foodways Alliance/Flickr

Pollution, Hurricanes, and the Pandemic Spell Trouble for Gulf Shrimp and Seafood Industries

, Economist

August 4, 2020 6:16 PM EDT

Today researchers announced the size of the Gulf of Mexico dead zone, the official measurement NOAA uses to track its size year over year. This comes on the heels of bad news from another NOAA report indicating that the volume of Gulf shrimp landings in June 2020 was the lowest ever recorded.   Read more >

Southern Foodways Alliance/Flickr
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Billy Metcalf Photography/Flickr

Reviving the Gulf Dead Zone Is Worth it: Our New Report Shows the Benefits of Action  

, Economist

June 29, 2020 1:09 PM EDT

Earlier this month, NOAA forecast that this summer in the Gulf of Mexico an area the size of Delaware and Connecticut combined would have so little oxygen that marine life flees from it or dies in it. In 2017, this “dead zone” was the size of New Jersey, the largest one ever recorded. Read more >

Billy Metcalf Photography/Flickr
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This map of dissolved oxygen levels in the Gulf of Mexico shows the extent of the dead zone in July 2017. Courtesy of Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium. https://gulfhypoxia.net/research/shelfwide-cruise/?y=2017&p=oxy_maps

Dead Zone 2017: Even Worse than Predicted (and That’s an Understatement)

, senior analyst, Food and Environment

August 3, 2017 4:34 PM EDT

There’s more bad news for the Gulf of Mexico. A team led by researchers at Louisiana State University this week confirmed the largest Gulf dead zone since standardized measurement began in 1985. The lifeless area of low oxygen in the Gulf is now at least the size of New Jersey, the researchers say, noting in a press release that because they couldn’t map the entire affected area, their measurement is an understatement of the problem this year. Read more >

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