hypoxia

This year's zone is over 6,700 square miles. The average over the past five years is about 4,300.

The hypoxic zone — an area of low to no oxygen — in the Gulf of Mexico is about 3,058 square miles. The "dead zone" can kill fish and marine life.

Every summer, fish and other marine life are forced out of their habitats in the Gulf of Mexico due to an insidious “dead zone.”The area, also known as a…