Excess fertilizer washed from Midwestern fields is slowly poisoning the Gulf of Mexico
As rainfall events become more intense and frequent, fertilizers applied to Midwestern farmland washes away, contaminating waterways near and far.
By Ignacio Calderon, USA TODAY Network Agricultural Data Fellow, Investigate Midwest 7 hours ago
Located in the heart of Americas breadbasket, Champaign County, Illinois, helps feed the nations demand for corn and soybeans while fueling one of the more insidious impacts of climate change fertilizer runoff.
Every year, farmers apply tons of nitrogen fertilizer to the vast swaths of crops that blanket Champaigns flat landscape.
As rain carries unused fertilizer into the nearby Spoon River, it spurs toxic algae growth downstream.
The excess nutrients flow with the waters from the Spoon into a series of larger rivers until dumping into the Gulf of Mexico, fueling a massive dead zone where no life can survive.
The environmental devastation increasing blooms and a consistently growing dead zone has been well documented for decades.
More:
https://investigatemidwest.org/2021/11/30/excess-fertilizer-washed-from-midwestern-fields-is-slowly-poisoning-the-gulf-of-mexico/