Fertilizer and other agricultural waste pouring into the Gulf of Mexico creates a larger and larger patch of lifeless ocean each year. Finally, the EPA has a plan of attack. Is it enough?
The abbreviation et al. means and others. It is most often used when a work you are citing in your paper has multiple authors. When a work has two authors, cite both names every time the reference occurs in the text.
Et al means and others or it can mean and elsewhere. When used in citing a reference it often means there are multiple authors of the work cited and the citation is for the first author and the others. John Smith, et al would mean John Smith and his coauthors.