New Hampshire

If you had New Hampshire in the annual "What state do we compare the size of Gulf Of Mexico hypoxic zone to this year?" pool, please collect your bucket of dead fish.  Betting on next year's state is officially open.  We're starting to get better and better odds on Maryland.

Use of fertilizers has grown as prices have fallen. In recent decades, farmers have applied fertilizers so liberally that about 34% is lost to the environment, the report says.

The share of fertilizer that ends up in the Mississippi is likely to grow. “Climate change is increasing the frequency of heavy rains and floods in the Midwest, which could wash even more nitrogen off farms and into rivers feeding the Gulf,” the report warns.