3. ABOUT THE DEAD SEA
Also called the Salt Sea
It is technically a lake at the end of the Jordan River.
Spanning more than 60 miles through Israel, the
West Bank, and Jordan, it sits 1,388 feet below sea
level
The lowest place on the sur face of the planet .
Its waters are salty, not because they are seawater,
but because there are no outlets, and untold
quantities of minerals, including salt, have been
deposited there.
4. The Dead Sea, in fact, is more than 10 times saltier
than the nor thern Atlantic Ocean, making it unable
to suppor t any life other than microbes.
It was one of the world's first health resorts and it
has been the supplier of a wide variety of products,
from balms for Egyptian mummification to potash
for fertilizers.
People also use the salt and the minerals from the
Dead Sea to create cosmetics and herbal sachets.
In 2009, 1.2 million foreign tourists visited on the
Israeli side.
The Dead Sea seawater has a density of 1.240 kg/L,
which makes swimming similar to floating.
5. GEOGRAPHY
An endorheic lake located in the Jordan Rif t Valley
The Jordan River is the only major water source
flowing into the Dead Sea, although there are small
perennial springs under and around the Dead Sea,
forming pools and quicksand pits along the edges.
There are no outlet streams.
Rainfall is scarcely 100 mm (4 in) per year in the
northern par t of the Dead Sea and barely 50 mm
(2 in) in the southern.
6. HUMAN SETTLEMENT
There are several small communities near the Dead
Sea. These include Ein Gedi, Neve Zohar and
the Israeli settlements in the Megilot Regional
Council: Kalya, Mitzpe Shalem and Avnat
There is a nature preserve at Ein Gedi, and several
Dead Sea hotels are located on the southwest end
at Ein Bokek near Neve Zohar
Potash City is a small community on the Jordanian
side of the Dead Sea, and others inclduing Suweima.
7. WHAT HAPPENS TO DEAD SEA NOW?
The Dead Sea has fal len more than 20m over the past 40
years. Studies by scientists at the University of Jordan have
shown that the sea now drops one metre in depth each year.
The Dead Sea is drying up causing sinkholes
There are now over 3,000 sinkholes around the Dead Sea on
the Israeli side
This compares to 40 in 1990, with the f irst sinkhole
appearing in the 1980s
8. WHAT HAPPENS TO DEAD SEA NOW?
The Dead Sea spans more than 60 mi les through Israel, the
West Bank, and Jordan
I ts water level has fal len f rom 394 meters below sea level in
the 1960s to about423 meters below sea level as of end 2012
A s a r e s ult , t h e S e a ’ s wa te r s u r f a c e a r e a h a s b e e n
reduced by one third: f rom roughly 950 square ki lometers to
637 square ki lometers today
The water level continues to drop at an alarming pace of 0.8
to 1.2 meters per year
9. ESTIMATES
SUGGEST
THAT, ON
THE
ISRAELI
SIDE
ALONE,
THERE ARE
NOW OVER
3,000
SINKHOLES
AROUND
THE DEAD
SEA
10. SINKHOLES
Sinkholes are basically bowl -shaped features that form when
an empty space under the ground creates a depression.
The depression is the result of a reaction between freshwater
and salt buried in a subterranean level beneath the sur face.
When the freshwater dissolves the salt, it creates a void,
causing the landscape around and above it to suddenly
col lapse.
What vi l lagers cal l 'death traps' have been piercing the
surrounding grounds of the Dead Sea for the past 20 years,
but the phenomena has increased signi ficantly in the past few
years as the sea level has decl ined. Some of the sinkholes are
a few metres wide and up to 20m deep.
13. WHAT CAUSES THIS??
The Dead Sea is drying up, and dropping salt water levels
which means there is more fresh water to eat away at the
salt.
The significant decl ine of the water level over the past 30
years is due to diversion of water f rom the Jordan River and
f rom the Dead Sea i tself due to population increase.
The mineral extraction activities of the Dead Sea Works and
the Arab Potash Company operating at the southern end of
the Dead Sea have been major players in af fecting the
environmental stabi lity of the region.
14. SOCIAL IMPACTS
Although the problem of the Dead Sea's decl ine star ts at the
nor thern borders of Jordan, vi l lagers at the southern edge of
the Dead Sea are bearing the ful l brunt of the problem.
Farms have been disappearing to sinkholes caused by the
shrinking sea. Vi l lagers lost their homes, cattle and their
l ives.
Residents were no longer able to move about freely at night
for fear that sinkholes might swal low them.
Other incidents included the col lapse of the social-security
station, homes, restaurants and rest houses.
15. ECONOMIC IMPACTS
Sinkholes have also had a serious economic impact on the
region.
Af fected the tourism industry over there.
Less tourists- since going to the sea is very risky
Hundreds of mi l l ions of dol lars have been lost when
construction sites unexpectedly col lapse(due to sinkholes)
In one instance, the Jordanian Potash Company, one of the
country's largest firms, lost an equivalent of US $130 mi l lion
when one of its dykes col lapsed overnight.
16. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
I f it dies, the Dead Sea wi l l also ki l l its unique natural habitat.
Although the water is barren of most l ife, the surrounding
ecosystem includes springs that suppor t a surprisingly rich
range of flora and fauna.
Huge oases are disappearing.
17. PROPOSED SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM
One solution being presented by the World Bank is to create a
canal l inking the Dead Sea to either the Red Sea.
The project is known as the Two Seas Canal , and would be
112 mi les (180 km) long.
The Red-to-Dead canal would cost at least $17 bi l lion.
Opponents of the canal claim that it would damage the
integrity of the seawater in the Dead Sea, forever changing its
mineral makeup.
18. Exper ts bel ieve more needs to be done to highl ight the pl ight
of the Dead Sea and come up with a solution.
For instance to bring the world's attention to the challenge
ar tist Spencer Tunick shot the first mass nude shoot in the
Dead Sea in 2011.
19.
20. Human intervention has just about killed the Dead
Sea. It will take extraordinary human measures—
careful, wise intervention and positive regional
cooperation—to save it now.
