NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is forecasting an average oxygen-depleted “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico this summer.
But that average is still nearly triple a goal for reducing the area where there’s too little oxygen each summer for marine animals to survive.
NOAA said in a news release Thursday that combining models developed by five universities resulted in a forecast of about 5,364 square miles.
That's a hair lower than the five-year average measured size of 5,380 square miles. Last year's was about 6,334 square miles.
A federal-state task force has set a long-term goal of reducing the dead zone to 1,900 square miles.
The full report can be viewed here.
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