Chesapeake 'dead zone' projected at near-average size this year
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [The Baltimore Sun] by Christina Jedra June 14, 2014
Scientists estimate the low-oxygen "dead zone" in the Chesapeake Bay this year will be roughly the volume of 2.3 million Olympic-size swimming pools - about average.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Monday that the hypoxic, or low-oxygen, zone will be about 1.58 cubic miles in volume, close to the long-term average since 1950.
Such low oxygen levels "are insufficient to support most marine life and habitats in near-bottom waters and threaten the Bay's production of crabs, oysters and other fisheries," NOAA said in a statement.
Nitrogen and phosphorus pollution, which comes in part from sources such as farm runoff..
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