Dead Sea

“The world’s lowest-lying land surface, the Dead Sea is threatened with disappearance. The rise in temperatures and pumping in the River Jordan are the reasons for this phenomenon that scientists say could lead to the next ecological disaster." The Dead Sea has "very high salinity – a salt content higher than 27%, whereas the average rate of the oceans and seas ranges from 2 to 4% – and its position 430 metres below sea level . . . This treasure is in danger: over the last fifty years it has lost 28% of its depth and a third of its surface area. Its level is falling inexorably, with on average 1.45 metre per year . . . For thousands of years the Dead Sea was filled with freshwater from the River Jordan, via the Sea of Galilee. In 1960, the State of Israel was undergoing rapid development and decided to create a new waterway to cultivate the desert. The natural flow of the Jordan was therefore blocked by a dam built on the south of the Sea of Galilee. During the same period, in the Jordanian city of Amman, a canal was built to exploit the much-valued salt of the Dead Sea. The impact of this infrastructure was to accelerate the evaporation of the water, which greatly contributed to lowering its level. The balance between the supply of freshwater via the River Jordan and natural evaporation was broken. The construction of the bypass canal to irrigate crops was continued . . . The water of the Dead Sea is increasingly threatened by the impacts of its falling level: water is rarer, salinity is rising and risks reaching a toxic rate."