What Can Be Done?

• There is no one way to reduce hypoxia, but with a combination of a few strategies the Dead Zone can be reduced significantly.

• Reducing fertilizer use by farmers

• It is estimated that over $750 billion of excess nitrogen is flowing down the Mississippi River each year, which equals about 1.6 billion tons of nitrogen.

• If farmers would apply fertilizers to match crop needs, it would allow the nutrients to be taken up by the plant instead of all the excess nutrients flowing into the Mississippi river.

• It is proven that farmers already use too much fertilizer, and if they would reduce the amount they use, it would not effect their crops at all.

• Better equipment is being made and tested that will enable farmers to apply fertilizers more efficiently.

• Restoring and Protecting Wetlands

• Wetlands soak up the nutrients from fertilizers, but wetlands in the key farming states have been depleted by 80%.

• Building and protecting wetlands would be a very simple way to reduce the flow of nitrogen into the gulf.

• Reducing Factory Emissions

• Even though factory emissions do not play a big part in causing the Dead Zone, it is the easiest to prevent.

• The reason it is easiest to prevent, is because the U.S. is the #1 contributor to air pollution.

• Government Help

• The government needs to start supplying more money for the reduction of the Dead Zone, and start regulating the use of fertilizers by farmers more efficiently.

• The Danish government reduced their phosphorous and nitrogen levels by 80%, primarily by restoring wetlands and reducing the use of fertilizers by farmers, this has limited plankton growth and raised dissolved oxygen levels significantly.