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The large “dead zone” that grows in the Gulf of Mexico every summer is nothing new. The toxic runoff of nitrogen fertilizer used on conventional crops in the Midwest leads to a huge swathe of sea that is incapable of sustaining life. The nitrogen-rich fertilizer leads to an increase of algae life, which in turn removes oxygen from the water. The end result: a dead zone that typically grows to the size of New Jersey.
Corn is the biggest culprit in creating these environments, and now that the U.S. is looking to biofuels as a solution to its energy needs, the problem's only getting worse. Bush signed legislation at the end of 2007 that will triple the amount of corn ethanol produced over the next several years.
A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Journal of Sciences forecasts that the increased runoff will also overburden the waterways that shuttle the fertilizer to the Gulf – including the Mississippi River.
The damage to the fishing industry is the least of our worries; we're literally killing the world around us piece by piece.
news.wisc.edu
Corn is the biggest culprit in creating these environments, and now that the U.S. is looking to biofuels as a solution to its energy needs, the problem's only getting worse. Bush signed legislation at the end of 2007 that will triple the amount of corn ethanol produced over the next several years.
A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Journal of Sciences forecasts that the increased runoff will also overburden the waterways that shuttle the fertilizer to the Gulf – including the Mississippi River.
The damage to the fishing industry is the least of our worries; we're literally killing the world around us piece by piece.
Increased ethanol production to worsen Gulf of Mexico ‘dead zone’
The rush in the United States to produce corn-based ethanol as an alternative fuel will likely worsen pollution in the Gulf of Mexico and expand the annual 'dead zone' that kills fish and other aquatic life, according to new research.
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