A “dead zone” in the Chesapeake Bay has grown to one of the worst in decades.
Data from the state’s Department of Natural Resources indicates the dead zone – an area of water with little to no oxygen – was covering 2 cubic miles at the end of July. That makes it the second-largest late-July dead zone since 1985, according to the DNR report. The average size for that time period is 1.34 cubic miles.
The worst section of the dead zone includes the lower Potomac and Patuxent rivers, as well as much of the bay, from Baltimore to the mouth of the York River, the Associated Press reported.
Air temperatures around the bay reached 100 degrees for several consecutive days in July, which heated main bay waters to temperatures as warm as 90 degrees, the DNR report said. Warmer water holds less oxygen and compounds hypoxia.
Joanne Harrison says
August 27, 2019 at 1:56 pmIf the DNR and the State of Maryland had mounted serious efforts to get rid of the invasive Fragmites that have choked out the useful Cat Tails that used to inhabit our steams, coves and creeks. These critical waterways have been poisoned by inaction. We heard more about the snakehead invaders that the Fragmites. Their unchecked growth is a significant killer of our beloved Chesapeake Bay.
Ryan Evans says
August 27, 2019 at 4:59 pmWhat do you expect when I fill the bay with sh$t water. What do you think would happen if you had to live in the amount of sewage that been dumped I mean spilled into the Bay. These people need to be held accountable for their actions! This needs to stop before it’s to late.