Dead Zone

8,500 square miles of the Gulf of Mexico will be lacking sufficient oxygen to support marine life--larger than the biggest recorded dead zone in history. This in addition to the BP oil spill, the "chronic stressor," is detrimental to the gulf. At first I thought dead zones were due to fertilizer killing marine life, but what actually happens is the nitrates and the phosphates in the fertilizer runoff provide good conditions for algae. It then overgrows and then takes all of the oxygen for its survival. The other sea life must either escape or die. Dead zones have been a problem for a long time, and I think its time to start preventing it. The least people could do is use the fertilizer that isn't harmful to the environment, it says it right on the bag! How long can we all just watch these problems go on? In order to make a difference, everyone has to do their part.