The Sinking Sea

Dead sea dropping by a metre every year

The Sinking Sea Fed by the waters of the Jordan River, nestled on the borders of Israel, Jordan and the West Bank, the Dead Sea has supported life and provided spiritual healing for millennia. But it's now at risk of disappearing.
The Dead Sea has seen its water level decline by more than a metre a year. The level has historically been maintained by water flowing inwards from the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River in the North—however, over the last few decades, as local populations have moved to extract the water, it has been removed faster than it can be replenished. 'This is a symbol of what man can do to nature without even knowing that he’s doing it', says Dr Ish-Shalom, who has been investigating sinkholes that have opened up in the area, leaving stretches of road unusable. With neither farmers nor factories willing to use less water, it's unclear what the future holds for the Dead Sea. 'If our children will say that they wanted to save it, they can't even do it, because it's too late. Everything that's happening here, it's because of us', says one Israeli hydrologist. The issues surrounding the Dead Sea are representative of a wider problem of water shortages in the region. As water is diverted to Israel, many Palestinians are left without. 'The water allocated for this village actually is less than 50% of the needed water', says Palestinian Zeyad.
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