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OTHER COASTAL OTHER COASTAL WATERS ISSUESWATERS ISSUES
Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Harmful Algae Blooms
akaaka
The “Dead Zone”The “Dead Zone”
THE GULF OF MEXICOTHE GULF OF MEXICOHYPOXIA ISSUEHYPOXIA ISSUE
Dead Zone Keeps Getting Bigger
By Mark Schleifstein
The annual dead zone along Louisiana’s coast has
grown to record size this summer
Hypoxia = Low Oxygen (<2 ppm )Hypoxia = Low Oxygen (<2 ppm )
Anoxia = No oxygenAnoxia = No oxygen
WHAT IS “HYPOXIA”?WHAT IS “HYPOXIA”?
““Nitrate-nitrogen is a major contributor to the Nitrate-nitrogen is a major contributor to the hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico. It is hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico. It is washed from fields to drainage ditches to washed from fields to drainage ditches to streams, which feed into rivers and, ultimately, streams, which feed into rivers and, ultimately, the Gulf of Mexico. Just as it helps crops grow the Gulf of Mexico. Just as it helps crops grow on land, the nutrients also helps algae grow in on land, the nutrients also helps algae grow in water. Unfortunately, when the algae start to water. Unfortunately, when the algae start to die and decompose, the oxygen in the water is die and decompose, the oxygen in the water is depleted, creating an area that can’t support depleted, creating an area that can’t support most marine life.”most marine life.”
GULF OF MEXICO HYPOXIAGULF OF MEXICO HYPOXIA
Agricultural Research magazine, October 2002
Legend
Hypoxia 1999
7,778 sq. miles
For Illustration OnlyBased on Data FromN. Rabalais, LUMCON
Legend
Hypoxia 2000
1,750 sq. miles
For Illustration OnlyBased on Data FromN. Rabalais, LUMCON
LegendHypoxia 2001
8,006 sq. miles
For Illustration OnlyBased on Data FromN. Rabalais, LUMCON
8,500 sq. miles
LegendHypoxia 2002
For Illustration OnlyBased on Data FromN. Rabalais, LUMCON
Legend
LA Coastal Zone
Hypoxia 2000
Hypoxia 1999
Hypoxia 2001
Hypoxia 2002
For Illustration OnlyBased on Data FromN. Rabalais, LUMCON
HYPOXIC AREA IN THEGULF OF MEXIC0
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
15 No
dat
a
Data from N. Rabalais, LUMCON
FACTORS AFFECTING GULF HYPOXIA
Fertilization Stratification Eutrophication Channelization
Annual nitrogen inputs to the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin*
Taken from CENR publication “Draft: Integrated Assessment of Hypoxia in the northern Gulf of Mexico.”
THE HYPOXIC ZONE IN THE GULF OF
MEXICO
Insert your state’s map with waterbodies here.
Legend
LA Coastal Zone
Hypoxia 2000
Hypoxia 1999
Hypoxia 2001
Hypoxia 2002
For Illustration OnlyBased on Data FromN. Rabalais, LUMCON
Calcasieu River Mermentau River Vermilion River
Bayou Teche Atchafalaya River Bayou Terrebonne
Bayou Lafourche Mississippi River
FACTORS AFFECTING GULF HYPOXIA
Fertilization Stratification Eutrophication Channelization
FINAL HYPOXIA ACTION PLAN – January 2001
Voluntary Approach to Reduce Nutrient Discharge to Gulf
Coastal Goal: By the year 2015, subject to the availability of additional resources, reduce the 5-year running average extent of the Gulf of Mexico hypoxic zone to less than 1,930 square miles through implementation of specific, practical, and cost-effective voluntary actions by all States, Tribes, and all categories of sources and removals within the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin to reduce the annual discharge of nitrogen into the Gulf.
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
Goal by 2015
15 No
dat
a
HYPOXIC AREA IN THEGULF OF MEXIC0
Data from N. Rabalais, LUMCON
HYPOXIA IN THE HYPOXIA IN THE GULF OF MEXICOGULF OF MEXICO
www.nos.noaa.gov
CENR Hypoxia Report Location
HARMFUL ALGAE BLOOMS
Passed by Congress in 1998 Inter-Agency Task Force on
Harmful Algal Blooms and Hypoxia National Assessment on HAB National Assessment on Hypoxia Assessment AND Plan for Hypoxia
in the Gulf of Mexico
Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act