Sputnik
by Max Gorbachev – August 7, 2021
According to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), dead zones are underwater areas where levels of oxygen are so low that no marine life can survive there. They occur naturally, but researchers are concerned that more and more of these biological deserts are developing due to human activity.
US scientists have discovered a massive dead zone, NOAA said in a press release. Per the agency, the average dead zone covers around 5,400 miles, but the one discovered on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico “is approximately 6,334 square miles, or equivalent to more than four million acres of habitat”.