The picture above shows the how widespread the Dead Zone area at the Gulf of Mexico is. Scientist has said that this area could stretch to more than 8,800 square miles this year - about the size of New Jersey, compared with 6,662 square miles in 2006 and nearly double the annual average since 1990 of 4,800 square miles.

The cause of this problem: The soaring use of ethanol in U.S. motor gasoline supplies and the massive flooding in the Midwest earlier this year.

What happens is that during the farming of crops to be converted to ethanol, the fertilizers like nitrogen and phosphorous gets washed into the water bodies, resulting in the increase growth of algae. These algae settle and decay in the bottom waters of the Gulf, and the bacteria that decompose them takes in oxygen faster than it can be replenished from the surface, which means lower levels of dissolved oxygen in the water. This causes marine lives to be choked to death.

The Dead Zone not only has environmental effects. It also causes social problems as now fishermen have to venture farther out into the Gulf’s waters to find their catch.

U.S. scientists estimate that a record 83,000 tons of phosphorus seeped into the Gulf of Mexico from April through June, up to 85 percent above normal seasonal levels.

To counter this problem, Eugene Turner, a scientist at Louisiana State University suggests that they could plant more perennial crops that trap rainwater and keep it from running into the Gulf of Mexico. He also added that scientist would eventually invent new breeds of perennial corn plants that can remain in the soil from one planting season to the next, avoiding the need to strip fields bare and leave them susceptible to flooding.

Via - Reuters