Abstract
EOS, TRANSACTIONS AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION,
VOL. 85, NO. 7,
PAGE 69, 2004
doi:10.1029/2004EO070001
FEATURE
The Dead Sea is unlikely to dry up in 50 years
Trident Consultants Ltd, London, U.K.
Berlin Environmental Research Group, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
Since the early 1960s, the water level of the Dead Sea has decreased gradually to a level of 417 m below mean sea level (bmsl). Estimates of the annual rate of decline vary between 0.5 m/yr to 0.95 m/yr. Recently, Asmar [1998] and Asmar and Ergenzinger [2002a] showed that the rate of decline is gradually decreasing.
Two major factors are responsible for the lowering of the Dead Sea: the diversion of almost all water resources away from the Dead Sea, which considerably decreases the water input into it; and industrial development in both Jordan and Israel that uses increasing amounts of Dead Sea water to produce minerals where the former southern Dead Sea has been transformed into industrial evaporation pans.
Citation: (2004), The Dead Sea is unlikely to dry up in 50 years, Eos Trans. AGU, 85(7), 69, doi:10.1029/2004EO070001.
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