It’s gettin’ real.

2011 Gulf of Mexico ‘dead zone’ could be biggest ever.

The dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, a result of nitrogen runoff from farming and human activities far up the Mississippi, has been measured this year at roughly the size of Delaware and Rhode Island combined.

The nitrogen influx allows algae and other tiny organisms to bloom, consuming the water’s oxygen and preventing fish and other wildlife from living or breathing there. This year’s dead zone may continue to grow past any previously recorded levels if it keeps up at this rate. 

(via jtotheizzoe)