Scientists estimate that the dead zone could grow to around 7,829 square miles—or about the same size as the state of Massachusetts.
Dead zones are areas of the world's water bodies which contain very little or no oxygen, creating lethal conditions for marine life.
If the dead zone does reach this size, it would far surpass the average over the past five years although it won't be the largest recorded. That title goes to the 2017 Gulf of Mexico dead zone, which grew to a size of 8,776 square miles. According to the NOAA scientists, the dead zone this year is expected to be particularly large, due to the unusually heavy rains in the Mississippi Basin region this spring.
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