The Dead Sea is on the verge of dying - it is shrinking at the rate of 3.3 feet per year

The Dead Sea, known as the Salt Sea in Hebrew, is one of the saltiest bodies of water in the world - it has a salinity of around 34% salinity. It is shrinking at the rate of 3.3 feet per year and, due to that, the salt is only getting saltier.
The Dead Sea is a salt lake nestled by Israel, Jordan and the West Bank and actions by humans are largely to blame, as indicated by the environmentalist group EcoPeace Middle East.
This has been reported in edition.cnn.com dated 21 November 2016.

For its survival, the Dead Sea needs water from the other natural sources surrounding it like the Jordan River basin. However, in the 1960s, some of the water sources it relied upon were diverted. One was Israel - it built a pipeline during that time to supply water throughout the country.
Another culprit for decline in water level is mineral extraction industries. The minerals of the Dead Sea have immense therapeutic properties and can often be found in cosmetics and other consumer products.
Added to these is the hot, dry climate of the Middle East which affects the replenishment of water in the lake. Israel and Jordan have signed a $900 million deal in order to stabilize the Dead Sea's water levels. The work entails building a canal from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea. This canal is estimated to take three years to complete. Once finished, both the countries would be able to supply water to Israel and Jordan and, also, pump much needed water (approximately 300 million cubic meters annually) into the Dead Sea.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org


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