Iruni Kalupahana JadeTimes Staff
I. Kalupahana is a Jadetimes news reporter covering Travel
Geographical and Historical Significance
The Dead Sea is a salt lake landlocked between Israel and Jordan, with Jordan having the eastern shore and its western shore divided between Israel and the Palestinian West Bank. It actually is the lowest point on Earth's surface, standing an incredible 423 meters below sea level. Historically, the Dead Sea has represented an important biblical and ancient text location, connected to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as a refuge for prominent figures such as King David. The whole region, with its total arid desert and mountainous landscape, has been one of the focal points of human settlement and conflict for many centuries. Notable archaeological sites, such as Masada, where Jewish Zealots made their last stand against the Romans, and Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, demonstrate the lake's historic importance to this very day. Its unique position in the Great African Syrian Rift constitutes just one more reason to regard this lake as important from a geological point of view.
Unique Natural Environment
.The extreme salinity of the Dead Sea about 34% because of its extremely high evaporation rates and no outlet means salts and minerals accumulate. The result is a body of water so dense that bathers can float effortlessly on its surface. The mud of the lake is rich in minerals, above all magnesium, potassium, and bromine, which gives it therapeutic properties and was widely used in cosmetics and medicine long before modern times. The climate around it is rather extreme, too, very hot summers up to 51 °C and mild winters, while the average temperature constitutes about 17 °C. This evaporation causes a mist to form above the lake's surface, adding to its surreal appearance. Given the extreme conditions and harsh environment, biodiversity is limited, however, several resistant species of bacteria and algae have adapted to such high salinity waters.
Environmental Changes and Decline of the Dead Sea
Human activities have severely disturbed the environmental balance of the Dead Sea. Diversion of water from the Jordan River since the 1960s, further supplemented by extraction for commercial purposes, precipitously lowered the lake's water level. What was once a continuous body of water is now fragmentary, with the southern basin reduced to a series of evaporation pools used for producing salt. This retreat has resulted in some radical alterations in physical and ecological features of the lake. For example, when it was at its usual levels, the lake was divided into northern and southern basins by the peninsula of Al Lisan, however, at its present lower levels, this peninsula extends eastward to further isolate the northern basin. The lake surface area has radically declined, with salinity rates having gone astronomically up and rates of salt precipitation furthering the ecological impact.
Human Impact and Future Challenges
Continuous decline puts serious challenges into the future of the Dead Sea. The reduced freshwater intake results in an increase in salinity and destroys natural stratification of the layers of water in this lake. Overturn events, when the density of the upper layer increases to such a state that it is already sinking, have changed the special ecological conditions of the lake. These alterations to the environment have led to a decline in microbial life and the formation of sinkholes along its shores. Proposals aimed at solving these problems include diversion projects that would reroute water from surrounding sources onto the lake or the artificial creation of stabilizing lakes. While some corrective measures have been taken, the success of these is also not very certain, and no efforts should be stopped in taking care and preserving the impact that human activities have on nature and the ecological and historical importance of the Dead Sea.
