US corn biofuels will expand Gulf of Mexico 'dead zone': scientists

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jU6qItzJ1GYKP8nH0U2vO6ggZlag

US corn biofuels will expand Gulf of Mexico 'dead zone': scientists

Mar 10, 2008

VANCOUVER, Canada (AFP) — A planned increase in US ethanol production from corn would spell environmental "disaster" for marine species in the Gulf of Mexico, said a co-author of a science study published Monday.

A boost in corn production will worsen the Gulf's so-called "dead zone," an area with so little oxygen that sealife suffocates, said Simon Donner, a geographer at the University of British Columbia in Western Canada.

"Most organisms are not able to survive without enough oxygen," Donner told AFP. "All the bottom-dwelling organisms that can't move away are probably going to die, while fish will migrate if they can."

Donner and Chris Kucharik of the University of Wisconsin used computer models to conclude that growing enough corn to meet US biofuel goals set for 2022 would cause a boost of 10 to 34 percent in nitrogen pollution in the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers, which run into the Gulf of Mexico.

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[newfie11]

1. That maybe

but what about all the chemical plants that have been spewing god knows what in the gulf for years. No to mention the refineries. Anyone been to Texas City?

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. Unpleasant, but Agricultural run-off appears to be more of a problem

http://www.smm.org/deadzone/
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/05/0525_050525_deadzone.html
http://www.physorg.com/news113067640.html
http://serc.carleton.edu/microbelife/topics/deadzone/

[kristopher]

3. The anoxic conditions are worse than the pollution and have been for years.

Point source pollution into the nations waterways as been mostly eliminated since the Clean Water Act was enacted. However, the nutrients from farming, lawn care and poorly maintained septic systems aren't nearly as easy to address. The entire area from the Mississippi to Alabama is dead from lack of oxygen.