The Long Journey of a Nitrogen Molecule: Tracing Farm Runoff from Midwest Fields to Gulf Coast Dead Zones
Every spring, snowmelt and rainfall carry millions of tons of agricultural nitrogen and phosphorus off Midwest croplands and into America's river networks, beginning a months-long journey that ends in oxygen-depleted coastal waters where marine life cannot survive. The Gulf of Mexico's hypoxic dead zone — sometimes larger than the state of New Jersey — is the most visible consequence of a nutrient pollution crisis that implicates farm policy, infrastructure investment, and the choices made on in