Grist: Oh yay. Just 5,840 square miles of the Gulf of Mexico are virtually bereft of life this summer. This years dead zone is much bigger than an official goal of 1,950 square miles, but not as bad as had been feared. Heavy spring rains inundated Mississippi River tributaries with fertilizers and other nutrients, and once those pollutants flowed into the Gulf, they led to the growth of oxygen-starved areas where marine life cant survive. But NOAA says things could have been worse. The agency had previously...