With global warming, the drying of the Dead Sea is accelerating. The Great Salt Lake has lost a third of its volume in 50 years. An NGO organizes boat trips to create awareness among tourists about environmental degradation.
“You should know that more than 600 Olympic swimming pools evaporate from the Dead Sea every day. It’s huge,” Noam Betain, director of the NGO Dead Sea Renaissance, repeats to some of the tourists on his boat that day.
At human height, it is indeed difficult to realize the ecological disaster that threatens one of the natural ornaments and most valuable places of the Near East.
Located at the crossroads between Israel, the West Bank and Jordan, the Dead Sea is the deepest point on the planet’s surface (about 400 meters below sea level).
Reported missing?
The Dead Sea has lost a third of its area in fifty years and is shrinking by one meter every year.
So to warn tourists, Dead Sea Renaissance offers “eco-tours” in the salt waters of the huge lake. Only non-governmental organizations are allowed to go there.
When you come to the Dead Sea, you realize the value of water
During a stop, visitors dip their feet in a nearly dry river.
“There is a shortage of water because there are so many people who consume it, especially for agriculture”, explains Noam Bedain.
Break-even solutions
Famous for its therapeutic muds, the lake has become one of the economic engines of the entire region. In Jordan, tourism alone accounts for 20% of GDP.
However, Israel and Jordan have not agreed to preserve the Dead Sea. In particular, water pumped into the Red Sea needs to be pumped further south. There is a cross-border project, but it is currently on hold.
If nothing is done, this turquoise aquifer will disappear by the end of the century.
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