On June 20th I linked to information on the enlarged "Dead Zone" in the Gulf of Mexico (areas without enough oxygen in the water, see if you can find the cause of not enough oxygen!) from the fertilizers carried down the Mississippi with all of the flooding. The Mississippi River serves as a drain for a very large area of land, the area that the water comes from is called the watershed; fertilizers drain from the farms into the watershed without flooding. Other chemicals also enter the watershed, from cars, factories, and many other sources. We can call the causes of pollution, point and non-point sources of pollution.
Evidently, Hurricane Dolly, the most recent hurricane, mixed up the water, and shrunk the "Dead Zone" slightly. This can be good news for the people and industries that rely on fishing in the Gulf of Mexico - that would be one positive effect of hurricanes. Click here to link to the news article with more details on these findings....
I hope you're enjoying your summer - we'll be back at school before you know it!