However, the annual average water level drops about 1.2 meters, the water surface shrinks by more than one third, and more than 6500 sinkholes are scattered everywhere. As a result, the "dead sea will die" seems to be a prediction. Poor management, over exploitation, climate change, lack of water supply, and many other factors make the future worrying.
Water injection plan may change the ecosystem
Netanyahu, the chief scientist of Israel's Ministry of environmental protection, has determined that global climate change is one of the key factors leading to the 'shrinking' of the dead sea, while a series of economic activities have broken the 'delicate natural balance', causing disastrous effects and consequences.
As the climate warms, the Dead Sea evaporates faster, she said. 'climate change is here, and we see less and less water in the dead sea. '
As for the response measures to get rid of the plight of the dead sea, she said: 'if there is no water source to supplement the dead sea, we cannot see a solution, which is the crux of the problem. '
In December 2013, Israel, Jordan and Palestine signed an agreement at the headquarters of the world bank in Washington, D.C., to build a desalination plant in Jordan, with an annual output of 80 million to 100 million cubic meters of fresh water as drinking water; in addition, seawater is drawn from the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea and injected into the dead sea through the desalination plant and 200 km water pipeline. But some environmentalists worry that the red sea water may form gypsum crystals in the dead sea, promote the reproduction of red algae, and then change the Dead Sea ecosystem.
According to Xinhua news agency, Israel's Ministry of environmental protection recently reported that the rate of water level decline in the dead sea is' shocking ', and now it is about 1.2 meters per year on average. Between the 1970s and 1980s, the dead sea level dropped by about 0.7 meters per year; over the past 40 years, it has fallen by about 30 meters.
Forming more than 6500 sinkholes
When the water level drops, salt blocks will be formed at the original water place; when the salt blocks disappear under the ground water erosion, the surface will show holes, namely sinkholes; sinkholes will collapse, posing a danger.
With the shrinking of the lake, the sinkholes gradually increased. In the 1980s, the first batch of sinkholes appeared in the dead sea; subsequently, the number of sinkholes continued to rise, now more than 6500.
According to the Middle East ecological peace organization, the dead sea surface area has been reduced by more than one third so far.
Based on the research, an extreme prediction is that the dead sea may dry up in 2050.
In an interview with Xinhua news agency, Dr. sinaya & middot Netanyahu, chief scientist of Israel's Ministry of environmental protection, confirmed that the changes in the Dead Sea are irreversible, and the shrinking of the lake is a grim reality that has to be accepted and adapted.
At the same time, the female scientist concluded that the level of the dead sea would fall further, but that the dead sea was' deep enough 'not to disappear.
As the water level drops, the shoreline gradually recedes to the center of the lake. In the past, tourists could take a few steps to 'take a bath' in the dead sea; nowadays, many hotels have to prepare vehicles for tourists. In undeveloped areas, it is more difficult to reach the shoreline of the dead sea.
The reporter tried to walk down the No.90 desert road connecting the dead sea and the Red Sea, stepping on the sand and stones, zigzagging, and taking nearly half an hour to reach the place where the sea water could be contacted.
Water consumption of lakeside factory and Hotel
The deterioration of the dead sea environment began in the 1960s.
The continuous lack of water has prompted countries such as Israel and Jordan to build dams to intercept the Jordan River for irrigation, which is the main source of water flowing to the dead sea.
According to the data of the Middle East ecological peace organization, the amount of water flowing into the dead sea by the Jordan River is currently 50 million to 100 million cubic meters per year, compared with 1.3 billion cubic meters before the closure of the Jordan River; the annual water deficit of the dead sea is 800 million cubic meters. This means that more than 90% of the Jordan River, which originally flowed into the dead sea, has been cut off, resulting in the dead sea being in a state of serious' over spending '.
Mira & middot; Edelstein, director of the Jordan River and dead sea project of the Middle East ecological peace organization, told Xinhua that Jordan, Israel, Syria and other countries lack mutual coordination on the management and use of water resources and need to take the main responsibility for the current situation of the dead sea.
Many enterprises have invested and built factories in the dead sea, so-called "depend on mountains to eat mountains, depend on the sea to eat the sea", and use the minerals in the dead sea to make fertilizers, drugs and cosmetics. According to Edelstein, many Jordanian and Israeli enterprises use the outdated water intensive 'evaporation' process to extract minerals from the dead sea, which consumes a lot of water resources but does not pay for 'water fees'. At the same time, hotels and hot spring sanatoriums around the lake area are lined up, which consumes a lot of water resources. (Chen Wenxian, Du Zhen)
The dead sea is located in the interior and desert, at the junction of Israel, Jordan and Palestine, with an altitude of minus 423 meters, i.e. 423 meters below sea level, and the salt content is about 10 times higher than that of the Mediterranean Sea.