Dead Sea tourism hit by fears of nearing ecological disaster

[lovuian]

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/redir.php?jid=321441d9d3be4625&cat=c08dd24cec417021



All a Dead Sea visitor has to do to witness an ecological disaster is peek through the fence separating the Ein Gedi beach from its former holiday village. Eight years after a staff person fell into a sinkhole here, the place look like it has been blitzed. Huge holes litter the area, into one of which the reception office has sunken with room keys still hanging on the walls. Desiccated tamarisk trees emerge from the scorched and cracked earth and pipes, once buried, hang in mid-air.

"We used to count them, but now there are too many," says Shimon Shukrun, who has lived and worked here since the 1960s. "It was a garden of Eden, now it's ruined."

The place is a popular stop for politicians touring the area, where one can truly appreciate the size of the disaster that has hit the Dead Sea. Shukrun begs the photographer, seeking a better shot, to be careful. He says the sink holes are bell-shaped, so one could bepeering into one while standing on a thin crust that could suddenly give way. We leave in a panic after
Sh




Shukrun discovers a new hole  half-a-meter across and at least 20 meters deep.

Geologists agree that the reason accounting for the appearance of the sink holes is the drop in the Dead Sea level, combined with the flow of fresh ground water that dissolves the salt in the soil. More than 1,000 holes have appeared since the phenomenon was first identified in the mid-1990s. The Geological Survey of Israel has published a map of risk areas for sink holes that includes the entire eastern coast of the Dead Sea, from the Qalia beach to the Masada area and including large parts of the road along the Dead Sea.
more...

Really scary...

[Judi Lynn]

1. I found some photos. Very sad to this this happening.

[rodeodance]

2. Thank you for the pics. I had read about this years ago and it has been

off the radar.

[okoboji]

3. one more example

of people destroying the earth.

Here's a quote I found from another web-site:

"For the past 10 years, only sewage has trickled from the River Jordan into the Dead Sea, with Israel, Jordan and Syria diverting most water upstream for use in agriculture and as drinking water since the 1960s."

go here for the entire article: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=196&art_id=qw1141903621199T614

[Up2Late]

4. I was wondering what other odd things might happen due to the level drop.

At least they might have a plan to fix this problem: <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2226712.stm#map>

I haven't seen any News of anyone thinking of how to fix the destruction of the Aral Sea in Central Asia. :cry:

What really makes me mad is that, if you take out even a brand new World Atlas, they don't show what's really going on. They all show the Aral Sea looking like this: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Aral_map.png>

Here's what it actually looks like now, or at least it did in September 2005, it's gotten worst since then:
Click Thumbnail for more (and larger) NASA photos


Here are some links for the Aral Sea tragedy. The really sad thing is, it could be fixed too, and it really wouldn't be that hard from a engineering point of view. It's the political part that would be difficult:

<http://edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/earthshots/slow/Aral/Aral>

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3846843.stm>

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/678898.stm>

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3107915.stm>

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2307171.stm>

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/monitoring/media_reports/1311114.stm>

[jwirr]

5. Question: Could this happen to states like Iowa if irrigation

empties or lowers the level of water in the underground aquifers? Is it the same principle?

[Up2Late]

7. It is happening in Iowa and most of the middle west, but the soil is...

...quite different, so it wouldn't be as obvious. I've see several posts here about this gigantic Aquifer that was under about 20 mid-central States, that used to extend to southern Illinois from Central Texas. Now it's about the size of Oklahoma.

The Great Salt Lake has been quietly drying up too, but nobody seems to be talking about that one either.

[bikebloke]

6. Worked near the Dead Sea.

I used to work on a moshav just south of the Dead Sea in the early 80's. Moshav Ne'ot Hakikar (the "fucking moshav" as everyone who lived there referrred to it.) Water for the crops was pumped out of the ground. I wonder how much effect this had on the situation. Next to the settlement is an elevated series of canyons. Perhaps they're the result of sinkholes from an earlier decrease of the water level.